JNU Violence LIVE Updates:JNU students attacked inside campus by ABVP activists

Scores of JNU students, including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, were attacked and beaten up by ABVP activists inside the JNU campus on January 5 evening. Till the time of writing, masked men were inside the JNU campus, entering hostels, beating up students and smashing cars.

A video of a bleeding Ms. Ghosh was posted on Twitter while the JNUSU claimed in a statement that a large number of ABVP activists had entered the campus with iron rods and told to “single out” students’ representatives.

JNUSU President has been brutually attacked by ABVP Gundas. #SOSJNU pic.twitter.com/X9yJ4r7DeY

— JNUSU (@JNUSUofficial) January 5, 2020

The incident took place during a march in the varsity around 5pm when masked individuals with rods entered Sabarmati hostel. After violence broke out on the campus, JNU registrar Pramod Kumar said in a statement, "This is an urgent message for the entire JNU community that there is a law and order situation on the campus. Masked miscreants armed with sticks are roaming around, damaging property and attacking people. The JNU Administration has called the police to maintain order."

Here are the Top 10 points in this big story:

• Eyewitnesses said the 50-odd goons entered the campus around 6.30 pm. They are yet to be flushed out. JNUSU tweeted that professors trying to protect the students were beaten up. "These are unknown ABVP goons, not all are students, they have covered their faces," the tweet read. JNUSU vice-president Saket Moon claimed the mob was going from room to room "indiscriminately attacking students". Through it, security guards remained "mute spectators", he said.

• In a message, the JNU administration appealed for calm. "The JNU Administration has called the police to maintain order. Efforts are being made to tackle the miscreants," read a message from the Registrar.

• "The mob threw huge stones and entered hostels," a professor, Atul Sood, told NDTV. "These were not small stones, these were big stones that could have broken our skulls. I fell on the side and when I came out, I saw cars completely vandalised, including my car."

• Injured and bleeding, Aishe Ghosh, the president of the students' union, was taken to AIIMS. "I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks," she told reporters. She was "singled out and hit on her head by men who entered the university campus with the blessing of the guards, the administration and the police," a tweet from JNUSU read.

• The ABVP said their members were "brutally attacked by students affiliated to leftist student organizations SFI, AISA and DSF". "Around 25 students have been seriously injured in this attack and there is no information as to the whereabouts of 11 students. Many ABVP members are being attacked in hostels and the hostels are being vandalized by the leftist goons," the ABVP tweet read.

• Foreign minister Dr S Jaishankar, an alumnus of the university, tweeted: "Have seen pictures of what is happening in #JNU. Condemn the violence unequivocally. This is completely against the tradition and culture of the university."

• Activist Yogendra Yadav was manhandled outside the university. "This is an attack right under the nose of Delhi police...this was an attack on the university," he told NDTV. He also claimed that he had information that the police had been present all along at the gates of the university, but did not act. "It is beyond shocking," he said.

• Congress's Rahul Gandhi condemned the mob attack. "The fascists in control of our nation, are afraid of the voices of our brave students. Today's violence in JNU is a reflection of that fear," his tweet read.

• "I am so shocked to know abt the violence at JNU. Students attacked brutally. Police shud immediately stop violence and restore peace. How will the country progress if our students will not be safe inside univ campus?" Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

• Over the last 70 days, the university has been seeing a standoff between the students and the administration over a hike in hostel fees. The different schools in JNU have been shut as part of the strike. This afternoon, the ABVP and the administration wanted to open the gates and begin registration, which led to a scuffle with the Left wing students, who are opposing the fee hike.