NEW DELHI: Slogans "inquilab zindabad" and "halla bol" rent the air on Tuesday as members of JNU students and teachers associations formed a human chain leading to Sabarmati Hostel to mark one year of the violence at the university when a mob entered the campus, damaged property and left many bleeding.
Sabarmati Hostel was one of the locations of violence in the campus last year.
Amid heavy police deployment outside the campus, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held a demonstration raising slogans against the Left student bodies and sought "action against the perpetrators of the violence".
Inside, some held posters and placards, and others raised slogans to rhythmic beats of drums.
The Left-led Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) had alleged that the ABVP had led the attack with support from the JNU administration.
"Tonight, a year after the saffron terror attack, JNU is alight with resistance. The fight for affordable education for all, social justice, gender justice goes on. The flame burns brighter, warmer and stronger," the JNUSU tweeted.
JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said in a tweet, "A year back, justice still awaits!! JNU students came out stronger against the saffron terror! Against the Administration sponsored violence led by goons of ABVP and JNUTF !" Ghosh was among the students who were injured in the violence.
"Salute to the students of JNU, who stood there hand in hand to never back down, to our workers for their indomitable spirit to stand by us when we were facing attack, risking their own lives, our teachers for being there whenever we needed.
"JNU is this unconquerable spirit of fighting back despite the attacks on it, to rise up stronger than ever ! The fight for accessible, inclusive education, social justice, gender justice in our campus will go on ! Student-Worker-Teacher Unity Long Live," she added.
On the eventful night last year, a mob of masked people stormed the campus and targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings.
While clamour grew for the removal of JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar after the incident, Delhi Police came under attack for allegedly not acting when the mob was running riot on the campus, and especially for naming student union leaders, including Ghosh in the two FIRs related to vandalism on the campus.
No one has been arrested in connection with the incident so far.
Recalling the day, the Left-affiliated All India Students' Association (AISA) raised the slogan "Don't Forget, Don't Forgive" and condemned the JNU administration and the Delhi Police for "not taking any action in the case".
"One year after the January 5 attack on JNU students and teachers, nothing happened to ABVP goons. The JNU administration or Delhi Police never took any action. Forget about action or arrest, they were never even interrogated in spite of massive concrete evidence against them," AISA said in a statement.
The ABVP had also blamed the JNUSU and associated student bodies for the violence.
"It is really saddening to see how they (left-leaning students) turned violent after they could not reach an amicable solution last year. Several ABVP activists and sympathisers were targeted and beaten with rods and sticks. Even the common students were not spared by violent mobs that were led by the JNUSU," Shivam Chaurasia, president of the ABVP-JNU, said.