ABVP’s concoction and lies to hide its own violence.
Image: Catch News
Since 15 Oct, the entire campus has been in a state of intense worry. Najeeb is still missing, the JNU administration are least interested in finding him. Najeeb was brutally beaten up by a group of ABVP activists, Delhi Police’s pronouncements have not shown any concrete outcome. And now, when all of us are worried about his safety, the ABVP is busy trying to spread LIES and HIDE the facts about violence and intimidation they unleashed that have led to this horrific situation.
LIE 1 :
ABVP is circulating notings of Warden’s Register regarding the 14 Oct night meeting in Warden’s Office where Najeeb is claimed to have deposed in front of Wardens, in the presence of present and former hostel presidents, the JNUSU President and several other hostel residents. ABVP is using this ‘document’ to claim that the JNUSU and the JNUSU President have already ‘endorsed’ Najeeb’s guilt and are NOW creating an unnecessary ruckus for political purposes.
FACT :
The JNUSU President and others were present at the Wardens’ office on 14 October to protect Najeeb from the ABVP organised group violence, and to ensure that the dispute and alleged incident be investigated through proper mechanisms available in JNU through Warden’s intervention and not through group violence. Signatures of JNUSU President along with other student representatives of the hostel only show that they were present in this part of the proceedings and do not amount to JNUSU expressing any verdict of ‘guilt’ on Najeeb.
It is also clear that the there is no signature of the JNUSU President on the ‘decisions’ of the Warden’s committee meeting, shown in the second part of the notings.
LIE 2:
ABVP is conveniently NOT mentioning the next Wardens’ Committee meeting held on 16 Oct.
FACT :
ABVP is trying to hide the fact of their violence in full public display which several students and JNUSU President continuously raised. These complaints were taken up in the next warden’s meeting on 16 Oct morning, which categorically decided the following:
ALL DECISIONS taken at the previous meeting HAVE BEEN DEFERRED.
Also, this meeting HAS TAKEN COGNIZANCE of the massive violence and DECIDED to investigate the group violence on Najeeb.
Records of Warden’s Committee Meeting of 16 Oct
Clearly, the ABVP CANNOT escape the truth that it indulged in physical assault on and criminal intimidation of Najeeb. The JNUSU President is himself witness to this. Right from 14 Oct, the JNUSU President has made this very clear. He has informed ALL authorities – the Warden’s Committee, the JNU administration and the Delhi Police – of this criminal violence against and intimidation of Najeeb.
LIE 3 :
ABVP is circulating a ‘letter’ of 14 Oct by Najeeb’s roommate Mohd Qasim to the warden. Najeeb’s roommate in his letter of 18 Oct makes it clear that this 14 Oct ‘letter’ was a deliberately misleading concoction.
FACT :
The ‘letter’ being circulated by ABVP is NOT in Najeeb’s roommate’s handwriting. On 14 Oct night, when a vicious lynch mob was attacking and threatening Najeeb, Qasim’s only concern was to protect Najeeb and take him out. A suggestion was made that Najeeb be transferred to another hostel for his safety. Ayush Bharadwaj, a student whom Qasim knew as having been twice on the Election Committee (EC), offered to draft a letter seeking hostel transfer. Trusting him to do so, Qasim signed the letter drafted by Ayush, in a hurry. In the tense and violent situation inside Warden’s room, Qasim made the mistake of signing the letter in good faith without reading it carefully assuming that the letter was a request for a hostel transfer. In the midst of the prevailing tension, Qasim’s only concern was to ensure that Najeeb is moved to safety to another space/hostel, as there was a real risk to his life. This is why the letter is in AYUSH’S HANDWRITING – NOT QASIM’S, and in English, not Hindi which Qasim is more comfortable with.
It was only when Qasim was about to depose to the Proctor’s Office that Ayush came up to him and said ‘Zyada uchhlo mat – maine jo chitthi bheja padh lo ek baar aur aukat me raho?’ – i.e Ayush tried to intimidate Qasim into avoiding deposing against the ABVP men who attacked Najeeb, telling him, “Read the letter I sent you and remain in your limits.” It was only then that Qasim checked his WhatsApp and read the letter (written in English in Ayush’s writing) thoroughly for the first time. Qasim was shocked to find that the concluding sentences of the letter were full of malicious lies, suggesting that Qasim felt ‘threatened by Najeeb’ and ‘wanted him shifted out’! Qasim realised Aysuh took advantage of his trust to get his signature on the letter (drafted and handwritten by Ayush) with conspiratorial intent. Realising his mistake of signing the Ayush’s drafted letter without careful reading in the midst of the violent and chaotic situation, Qasim drafted another letter himself clarifying the real situation and submitting it to the Warden and Proctor on 18 October.
Letter drafted and handwritten by Ayush on 14 Oct, signed by Qasim
Qasim’s 18 Oct Letter clarifying the context and conspiratorial concoction in 14 Oct Letter'
Further, facts also show that far from feeling ‘threatened’ by Najeeb, Qasim had taken Najeeb to the hospital the same night, spoken to Najeeb’s mother, given Najeeb his medicines as advised by his mother, and remained with Najeeb throughout the night of 14 Oct, worried about the Najeeb’s sleeplessness. All these facts, along with facts about the assault and threats to Najeeb – are ON RECORD in the written depositions given by Qasim to ALL authorities (JNU administration as well as the Delhi Police).
Issues at stake
Disputes occur in every campus. Allegations need to be investigated through proper mechanisms available – Hostel Committees, Warden’s or Proctor’s office etc. and NOT through group violence and communal profiling. The ABVP is very dangerously trying to completely destroy the existing ‘dispute-resolution mechanism’ in JNU – and replace it with organised violence with full administrative indulgence.
Shamefully, the JNU VC and the JNU administration, through their silence on and refusal to act against those ABVP violence mongers are supporting ABVP in this dangerous and devious game.
Is group violence by ABVP the ‘dispute resolution model’ that the JNU VC is promoting in JNU?
In campus after campus (HCU, BHU, DU, Lucknow Univ, Allahabad Univ in recent times) the ABVP is being allowed to rampage violently, unchecked. The JNU administration and the VC are taking JNU down the same road.
ABVP’s lies and propaganda cannot hide the truth. The truth is that their organised group violence is being used as a dispute-redressal mechanism by ABVP, and that the JNU administration is supporting the ABVP’s crude political agenda.
(This article was first published on Indiaresists.com.)
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