Crime Branch takes over DU march violence probe
RAMJAS ROW Cops admit to mishandling situation, ABVP takes ‘no JNU’ vow
Forced peace descended on Delhi University’s North Campus on Thursday after a day of unrest in which rival groups clashed over an invite to two controversial student leaders to speak at a seminar at Ramjas College.
Police suspended three of their men who reportedly helped the protesters in the violence. Sources said some of the cops deployed on the campus on Wednesday tossed stones to groups of youth throwing brickbats and blows at students and teachers during a protest march.
The case was transferred to the crime branch after students protested that the cops at Maurice Nagar police station are biased.
The unrest brought Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid — whose invitation to the seminar provoked the violence — back to the limelight.
“If I would have spoken at Ramjas, only a handful of people would have heard me. Because of the furore, the nation is hearing me now,” he said, taunting his rivals for the free and unnecessary publicity.
Khalid, a PhD student and former member of the ultra-radical Democratic Students Union, was arrested last year on charges of sedition for a rally at JNU in which anti-India slogans were allegedly heard.
He remained defiant. “Police have not even been able to file a charge-sheet against me and yet they say I am an anti-national and have links with terrorist organisations.”
He was referring to the RSSbacked ABVP, which protested against the invite to him and fellow JNU student Shehla Rashid. The event, which was part of the college literary festival, was cancelled after the protest on Tuesday and teachers complained that stones were thrown at the auditorium.
The ABVP members vowed they will not allow “anti-nationals” to turn DU into JNU.
CONTINUED ON P 8