Stone pelting, blackout: Late night drama at JNU over screening of BBC series on PM Modi
Defying the university administration’s order, a group of students at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) went ahead.
With the plan to screen the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. While the JNU administration cut down the electricity on campus to prevent the screening, the student group gathered and watched the documentary on their mobile phones and laptops.
During the blackout, the students, most of whom were from the Left-wing Students Federation of India (SFI), claimed they were pelted with stones. The students protested and marched to the Vasant Kunj police station to file their complaint.
On Monday, posters surfaced in JNU campus by JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU), announcing the screening of the BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ at 9 pm on Tuesday in the student body’s office. The JNU administration said disciplinary action would be taken if the documentary was screened.
However, the students opted to go ahead with the screening at the decided time. The JNU administration cut off the electricity on the campus at around 8.30 pm to prevent the screening. The JNUSU shared links of the documentary with students and asked them to gather to watch it on their mobile phones and laptops.
Students claimed stones were pelted on them while they were watching the documentary on their phones. However, the people who allegedly pelted stones at the students could not be identified as there was no electricity on the campus.
The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) blamed the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the stone pelting. The student group released a statement and said people continued watching the documentary despite the attacks.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh said students will block the university gates if the Delhi Police does not intervene. She added that it was unsafe for the students to go back to their hostel without electricity on the campus.
After the police said that legal action would only be taken if they receive a complaint from any student groups inside the university, the students started marching towards the Vasant Kunj police station to file a formal complaint.
Students’ protest ended at Vasant Kunj Police Station after a complaint was filed. The complaint stated that 25 miscreants were involved in the stone-pelting incident. The police also arrived at the campus late night.
On Wednesday morning, a complaint will be submitted to the JNU administration also. A few hours after the JNU administration shut down the electricity on the campus, the power was restored.
The BBC documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question’ focuses on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s and his then state government’s response to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Centre recently ordered YouTube and Twitter to take down links sharing the BBC documentary. Officials said it has been found to be “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India” and has “the potential to adversely impact” the country’s “friendly relations with foreign states” and “public order within the country”.