New Delhi: The Congress alleged Thursday that the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University was ‘officially sponsored goondaism’ and said Home Minister Amit Shah and HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal were responsible for it. The party demanded that those behind the violence must be identified and arrested immediately. It said normalcy in the JNU campus was not possible till its Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar resigned.
“The violent incident that occurred in JNU was not a sudden development, but was planned. Everyone knows who was behind this violence,” senior party leader Jairam Ramesh told reporters here during a press conference.
“I make a direct charge that HRD Minister and the Home Minister are responsible for the incident. This is nothing but an officially sponsored goondaism,” added Jairam Ramesh.
The leader also pointed out that 72 hours have passed and Delhi Police know who should be arrested but no action has been taken so far in this regard.
“This is a deliberate negligence,” alleged Ramesh. “We demand that the culprits who have been identified, who are responsible for this violence that occurred 72 hours back, should be arrested without any further delay. It has become amply clear that as long the present vice- chancellor remains in his position, there is no scope for normalization of the campus situation. The government should ask the VC to resign forthwith,” he added.
Ramesh said a few months ago talks were held between Secretary, HRD Ministry and Vice-Chancellor and an in principle agreement was arrived at. But, it is strange that the Secretary of the HRD Ministry has since been transferred whereas the VC is still holding on to this position.
“The police should arrest the persons responsible for this violence, VC should resign and the demands of the students should be seriously looked into,” said Ramesh.
Ramesh also said that a team constituted under the chairmanship of Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev will submit its report to the Congress president Friday. The fact-finding team was asked to look into the JNU violence and get to the depth of the issue.
PTI