JNUSU says it stands for peaceful agitation, blames media for 'misrepresenting' Jan 5 event

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) in a statement on Tuesday said it stands for peaceful and democratic modes of agitation after a purported video of students, allegedly raising "provocative" slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah inside the university campus, went viral.

Earlier, the JNU administration had sought an FIR against the students, and alleged that certain students raised "highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory" slogans during an event on Monday night, which is a direct contempt of the Supreme Court, varsity officials said.

The students' union has alleged that Delhi Police failed to secure justice for the victims of the 2020 violence and blamed a section of the media for "misrepresenting" the event and deflecting attention from the core issues, calling such coverage an attempt to defame the university and further target students.

"The JNUSU had organised a vigil on 5 January 2026 to keep the memory of the 2020 attacks on JNU alive and to highlight the above-mentioned pattern of injustice at Sabarmati Hostel, which was the prime target of the 2020 attacks," the statement read.

It further added, "However, rather than uphold journalistic ethics and speak truth to power, a section of the media has resorted to mischaracterising the vigil to deflect from real questions. These attempts at slander are an organised attempt to defame JNU and intensify the persecution of students.

"Unfortunately, the media, whose role is to speak truth to power, is siding with those in the government to spread slander against JNU." Six years on, the JNUSU alleged, none of the attackers has been arrested, even though their identities are widely known. The statement named Komal Sharma and members linked to the ABVP, alleging that they had publicly acknowledged on television planning and carrying out the attack. The union accused Delhi Police of inaction in the case, contrasting it with what it called swift action against student leaders for protests and acts of dissent.

In a statement, the ABVP said the protest by Left groups at JNU, following the Supreme Court's rejection of bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, revealed a long-standing "anti-national mindset". The ABVP claimed that slogans calling for "digging graves" of the prime minister, the home minister, the RSS and the ABVP were raised during the protest.

"The sloganeering carried out by Left-wing groups on the JNU campus clearly reflects an anti-national mindset. Even after the Supreme Court's decision, the manner in which language was used against constitutional positions and in an anti-national tone is unacceptable. The ABVP JNU unit strongly condemns every such anti-national act and views this not as a student movement, but as organised anarchy," the ABVP said. PTI VBH MNK MNK