New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Sunday alleged that the security guards attacked the students protesting at the administration block against the hostel fee hike.
An administration official denied the allegations. The students have been occupying the Pink Palace, also known as the administration block, in protest against the hostel fee hike. In a statement, the students' union alleged that the JNU VC sent guards to physically attack students at the administration block in the morning.
"The guards threw away students' belongings, dragged and manhandled students peacefully sitting inside the administration building," they said. Female students, including a BA 1st year student, were physically assaulted by the guards, they claimed, adding she received injuries and had to be immediately taken to a hospital.
They also alleged that barricades have been placed around the administration block.
An official from the varsity administration said, "The security guards did not manhandle any student. Their job is to secure the administration block and they keep requesting students to not enter or protest inside the block.
"There has not been any use of force against the students," the official said. The official said the administration has been appealing to students to resume classes and if it had to use force, it could have done so earlier.
The JNU students have been agitating against the hike for over four weeks. The agitation over the hike in hostel fee escalated on November 11 when thousands of students clashed with police outside the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) premises, where the JNU's convocation was being held.
Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' was stranded for over six hours at the venue.
The JNU's Executive Council had then announced a partial rollback of the hike for students belonging to the BPL category and not availing any scholarships. However, the protesters dubbed it as an "eyewash".
A week later, students undertook a march from the JNU campus to Parliament but were stopped at multiple locations by police. The protesters alleged that police personnel baton-charged and manhandled them, a charge which was denied by the force.
An internal committee formed by the varsity administration announced further concession but the students were not convinced and have been demanding a complete rollback.
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