Students and one staffer from Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were reportedly injured on Friday, 27 April, when left and right student groups clashed during the screening of a film on the contentious topic of ‘Love Jihad’.
The screening of the film, ‘In The Name of Love — Melancholy of God's Own Country', was organised on Friday evening by the Global Indian Foundation and the Vivekanand Vichar Manch, the latter being a student group affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The film is directed by Sudipto Sen.
The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU), which termed the movie as a communalist propaganda and led the protest against the screening, alleged that students from RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) clashed with them and manhandled the protesters. On the other hand, the ABVP has blamed JNUSU for the violence and accused the protesters of hitting a security guard.
The police has said they have received complaints from both the sides over the scuffle and were looking into the matter, reported PTI.
"Those who have suffered injuries will be sent for medical examination following which appropriate action will be initiated by us," a senior police officer said.
The students opposing the screening purportedly breached the security cordons and held placards in front of the screen.
A statement was issued by the protesters which said they “won’t let the RSS’s venomous ‘Love Jihad’ myth be propagated”.
Why is the ABVP/RSS hiding behind Vivekanand Vichar Manch? No more Dhanyashree will die because of their hate campaign. No more Hadiya will be imprisoned because of their hate campaign. No girl from Meerut will be forced to suffer because she loved.Statement from protesters
According to a Facebook post by JNU student activist Umar Khalid, former JNUSU president Mohit Pandey was among the students who was injured in the attack.
Pandey said the clashes were an attempt on his life, claiming that he was attacked with stones and broken glasses.
JNUSU president Geeta Kumari said the movie "spreading communal venom and bigotry" had been screened by the Vivekananda Vichar Mach, a frontal organisation of the ABVP.
JNU students standing up for gender justice and against politics of hate in the name of ‘Love Jihad’ protested against such politics. The peaceful demonstrators were showered with eggs and stones to create a situation of chaos.Geeta Kumari, JNUSU president
Kawalpreet Kaur, a student activist affiliated with the Delhi University, alleged in a Twitter post that a guard personnel had also been seriously injured in the violence. Kaur took to Facebook to also allege that the protesting students had been hit by stones and attacked with eggs.
Meanwhile, the ABVP alleged that some students from JNU had disrupted the screening by instigating violence and breaking the projector. They also alleged that JNUSU’s Pandey had run his car over a guard named Yogesh Yadav, who is reportedly battling for life in the hospital.
The organisation also said that the “goons” cut off the hand of a student, who has also been admitted to the hospital.
"After having murdered Freedom of Expression at Sabarmati dhaba, JNUSU President Geeta Kumari helped Mohit Pandey and Aamir escape after intentionally hitting a guard. The guard has been grievously injured," former Joint Secretary Saurabh Sharma, an ABVP member and one of people named in the complaint by the union, said in a statement.
The organisers had earlier told IANS that they had due permission for the screening of the movie and it was anybody's right to protest.
"The movie is based on the issue of 'conversion' in Kerala, of any community whether Hindu or Muslim or Christian, where people are being forcefully converted... JNUSU is protesting against the screening but it is their right to protest," Srikant Kumar, a member of the organising group, had told IANS.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)