CPI demands probe in JNU incident, condemns defacing of portraits

The Communist Party of India on Tuesday demanded a probe into the recent vandalism and defacing of portraits of leaders like Periyar, Bhagat Singh, Bhimrao Ambedkar, Karl Marx, Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule at the office of the Students’ Union at the Jawaharlal Nehru University here.

In a statement issued by its National Secretariat, the CPI "strongly condemned" the incident, and demanded that the guilty be punished.

"This is not the first time that the RSS-ABVP members have been attacking the left and progressive students in JNU for differing with their ideology. The RSS-ABVP has been trying to disturb the communal harmony inside the campus. The party condemns the vandalism in Students' Union office and violence on the student community," the CPI said.

"The party questions the inaction on the part of University Administration and the way the Delhi Police is working. This is not the first incident and it keeps happening. The party demands a thorough probe into the incident and punish the culprits," they said.

A clash broke between the JNU Students' Union and members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Sunday evening. Both sides have blamed each other for the incident.

The RSS-affiliated ABVP accused the Left-backed student outfits of “insulting” Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, while the JNU Students' Union alleged that the ABVP attacked some students after a march seeking justice for an IIT Bombay student who allegedly committed suicide.

The ABVP denied the charge.