Delhi Police's DCP (Crime) Joy Tirkey holds up what he claimed was evidence against JNU students over their alleged involvement in on-campus violence on Sunday
The Jawaharlal Nehru Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) on Friday hit out at Delhi Police for blaming the Jawaharlal University Students' Union (JNUSU) and students for the violence that rocked the campus on Sunday evening, as it demanded an investigation by an independent body into the episode.
The JNUTA has further asked for the role of Delhi Police to be probed as well, amid accusations by teachers that cops stood by at the university entrance as the mob ransacked campus buildings and thrashed those present on the campus. "Today's press conference thus only highlights the significance of the JNUTA's view of the need for an independent investigation that can also scrutinise the acts of omission and commission on the part of the police as well as the administration," the teachers' body said in its statement, issued after the presser by Delhi Police.
"Such underplaying of incidents which shocked the nation and subjected several others to extreme trauma is deeply disturbing. It may be noted that till date, not a single complaint filed by the teachers, has turned into an FIR," the statement added.
The JNUTA said that Delhi Police's attempt to portray students protesting the fee hike as "unruly mob" only reinforced its role on the "fateful day."
Thirty-four students and faculty members, including students’ union president Ayesha Ghosh, sustained serious to mild injuries in the Sunday night attack that took the entire country by storm, as videos and images of the incident started to do the rounds of social media.
Both the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), as well as JNUSU, accused the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of carrying out the unprecedented act. The ABVP, however, denied all the claims and stunningly blamed the act on Left-affiliated student outfits.
Accusations of conducting a biased probe have already been raised on part of Delhi Police, as they failed to mention any names from the ABVP or any outsider involvement in the episode. Curiously, a fringe group, the Hindu Raksha Dal (HRD), which had openly claimed the violence in a viral video released earlier this week, hasn’t found mention among the list of accused either.
Having said that, Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa has said that the force didn't usually hold press conferences in initial stages of the probe and that Friday’s presser was the first among several others that will follow as the investigation proceeds.
Also read: Twitter erupts in disbelief as Delhi Police blames Aishe Ghosh for JNU violence
