Anti-Meat Campaign Reaches JNU, Students Clash As ABVP Opposes Non-Vegetarian Food On Campus
Two groups of students clashed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys Kaveri Hostel on Sunday allegedly over the serving of non-vegetarian food in the mess on Ram Navami. The JNU Students Union JNUSU alleged that Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members stopped students from eating non- veg food. However the right-wing ABVP denied the charge and claimed that Leftists obstructed a puja programme organised at the hostel. Both sides accused each othe...Read More
Two groups of students clashed at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Kaveri Hostel on Sunday allegedly over the serving of non-vegetarian food in the mess on Ram Navami, with police saying six students were injured in the violence.
The two groups, however, claimed that over 60 students were injured from both sides.
Several purported videos of the violence surfaced on social media, with one of them showing a student, Akhtarista Ansari, bleeding from the head. Officials have not confirmed the authenticity of the videos.
#BREAKING: Saffron vegetarian extremists have unleashed violence in JNU again over meat eating!
¡ª Shreya (@s_shreyatweets) April 10, 2022
Students who stand up against the hooliganism unleashed by ABVP, the price one pays is to get beaten up by them.
Also, despite several calls to Delhi Police & JNU admin went mute ? pic.twitter.com/VXz3mCqSNz
ABVP stopped students from eating meat
The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) alleged that Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members stopped students from eating non-vegetarian food in the hostel mess and ¡°created a violent atmosphere¡±.
However, the right-wing ABVP denied the charge and claimed that ¡°Leftists¡± obstructed a puja programme organised at the hostel on Ram Navami.
.@abvpjnu hooligans stopping non veg from being cooked in Kaveri Hostel of JNU!
¡ª Madhurima Kundu (@madhurima_k_) April 10, 2022
Every Sunday, students have option to either eat non veg Or veg. But today, ABVP goons attacked mess secretary who had gone to receive the supply of meat.
ABVP cannot decide what one wants to eat. pic.twitter.com/lGb7jSdkiN
Both sides accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Manoj C told PTI that a total of six students have received injuries and have been sent to a hospital.
"There is no violence as of now. We are all positioned here with our team. On the request of the university, we have come here. We are trying to maintain peace,¡± he said. "Presently, the situation is peaceful. Both student groups are protesting peacefully. Appropriate legal action will be taken on receipt of a complaint. The situation is peaceful," the senior police officer added.
The JNUSU alleged that the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), used ¡°muscle power and goondaism" to create a ruckus, manhandled the staff and asked them not to prepare any non-vegetarian items.
¡°They were forcing and attacking the mess committee to change the dinner menu and exclude the usual non-vegetarian items in it for all students," it alleged.
"JNU and its hostels are meant to be inclusive spaces for all and not one particular section," it said.
Kaveri hostel asked to not cook meat
A student said that the ABVP asked the Kaveri Hostel mess committee not to prepare non-vegetarian food for the dinner, but the members refused to comply, saying that students have the choice to have non-vegetarian or vegetarian food on Sundays.
#JNU : It started from Kaveri Hostel today and now atmosphere is tensed
¡ª Hemant Rajaura (@hemantrajora_) April 10, 2022
Left wing students accused ABVP of stopping students from eating non-veg food in the campus
ABVP students have accused Left of preventing them from worshiping in the hostel on the occasion of Ram Navami. pic.twitter.com/gyy6jpNlYr
¡°In the evening, when the mess committee members were having a meeting with the mess manager, ABVP activists barged inside and started attacking them with (Ram Navami) flagstick. Later, residents of Kaveri Hostel sent an SOS message to student office-bearers who reached there but were attacked with stones and sticks,¡± he said.
The ABVP, however, rejected the JNUSU's allegations and claimed that ¡°Leftists¡± disrupted a pooja and havan organised by students on the occasion of Ram Navami.
#SOSJNU
¡ª AISA (@AISA_tweets) April 10, 2022
Friends, ABVP does it again. First they tried to impose non veg ban to everybody in Kaveri Hostel, and when common students stood up against #FoodFascism, the Sanghi goons resorted to all out violence. Students are facing serious wounds. pic.twitter.com/ahcBljYhWg
¡°Some unaffiliated students had organised a pooja and havan programme on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami at 3:30 pm at the Kaveri Hostel. This pooja was joined by a large number of common students of JNU. The Leftists came to object, obstruct and prevent the pooja. They have created a false ruckus on the issue of ¡®Right to Food' (Non-Vegetarian Food),¡± they said.
The ABVP alleged that the posters of the pooja had been put up three days ago and since then, the members of the Left and the Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) were threatening and saying they won't allow it to be held.
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