Left parties clash with ABVP during general meet at JNU

A clash erupted between left organisations and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) during a university general body meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday night. The All India Students’ Association (AISA) alleged that the meeting, held at Sabarmati Lawn, was intended to discuss student participation in the upcoming internal complaints committee (ICC) elections and broader gender justice issues on campus. However, AISA accused the ABVP of hijacking the event and stifling democratic discussions.

“ABVP members stormed the stage, snatched microphones and physically intimidated students, including JNUSU president Dhananjay and joint secretary Mohammad Sajid,” an AISA spokesperson said. The organisation emphasised that the meeting was aimed at addressing critical issues of student representation and sexual harassment, particularly in light of the dismantling of gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment (GSCASH) in 2017.

In response, ABVP JNU unit secretary Shika Swaraj claimed that the left parties were not focusing on the committee-related issue and instead made derogatory remarks about the saffron organisation.

“When we urged them to address the issue, they started heckling us,” Swaraj stated, adding that a left member used offensive language against Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar, which she condemned as an attempt to create communal disharmony.

The confrontation escalated when a Dalit student, expressing his views, was targeted with casteist slurs. “They chanted ‘do baap ki aulad’ at him, which shows their historical pattern of oppressing Dalit rights,” a member of the left organisation said. They further alleged that ABVP members threatened JNUSU joint secretary Sajid with “tumko bhi Najeeb bana denge”, referring to the disappearance of student Najeeb Ahmed — an intimidation tactic that raised concerns about communal agendas on the campus.

“The ABVP’s behaviour is emblematic of their attempts to create an atmosphere of fear and undermine democratic representation,” the AISA spokesperson added. The left organisations called on the JNU community to unite against what they described as “fascist forces”.