NEW DELHI: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has lodged a police complaint seeking registration of an FIR against members of its students’ union and several other students for allegedly raising “objectionable, provocative and inflammatory” slogans during a protest held outside Sabarmati Hostel on Monday night.The protest was called by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) to mark the sixth anniversary of the January 5, 2020 campus violence and to oppose the Supreme Court’s verdict denying bail to former JNU students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. During the protest, students allegedly raised slogans against the prime minister and the Union home minister.
In its complaint to the Vasant Kunj police, the university said the slogans amounted to “hate speech”, violated the JNU Code of Conduct, and had the potential to “seriously disturb public order, campus harmony, and the safety and security environment of the University.” It further described the act as “a direct contempt of the Honorable Supreme Court of India” and sought registration of an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.In a separate statement issued on Tuesday, the JNU administration said it had taken “very serious cognisance of the videos being circulated of the protest organised at Sabarmati premises” and that the competent authority had directed the security branch to cooperate with the police investigation. The statement reiterated the need to maintain “the clear distinction between dissent, abuse, and hate speech which leads to public disorder.”The JNUSU members named in the present complaint are also facing a separate police complaint lodged by the unversity for allegedly destroying a facial-recognition-based entry gate at the university library during a protest held last year.A statement from the JNUSU is awaited.
