JNU: Menu decided a month ago, permission for puja not taken, ABVP 'goons' attacked us, says Kaveri president

A day after RSS’ student wing ABVP activists created ruckus in Jawaharlal Nehru University over the non-vegetarian food on the occasion of Ram Navmi and unleashed violence, president of the Kaveri hostel Navin Jumar claimed that the “ABVP activists first unleashed violence then tried to give it a twist by claiming that Ram Navmi puja was interrupted”.

Claiming that no one tried to stop or interrupt the puja on the occasion of Ram Navmi, Navin Kumar, state working president of the NSUI, said, “ABVP activists did not take permission for the puja”.

“As per the rule, students need to take permission from the administration for organizing any event. In this case, permission was not even sought by the ABVP activist. No one objected since worshiping Ram is an issue related to our faith,” added Navin.

NH has learnt that the warden of the Kaveri hostel, Gopal Parihar had also not granted permission for the Ram Navami puja.

He, in a letter issued to the student community had suggested the ABVP activists should take permission from the administration before organizing puja.

Another student who is pursuing his PhD from the prestigious university told NH that “the ABVP activists from other hostels instigated the violence in a planned manner.”

“First, they organised puja without permission then they attacked the vendor at the gate the Kaveri at around 2 pm. Then in the evening they attacked the residents of the Kaveri hostel around the same time when a meeting was underway between the warden and the students' representatives regarding the change in the menu,” said the PhD student.

Echoing what the PhD student said, Navin Kumar told NH that the menu for the hostel food for a month is decided on the first of every month.

Alleging that the ABVP students are spreading lies, Kumar said, “The menu for a whole month is decided by the mess secretary who is an elected representative.”

“It is very democratic…The menu of every hostel is decided after discussion at the beginning of the month. We call on a GBM on the first and decide the menu with consent. Nothing is imposed upon us. Those who want to eat non-veg eat non-veg, those who do not, don’t. It is all about an individual’s choice. Hostels serve both kinds of foods,” added Navin.

Emphasising that “the controversy was manufactured to divide the JNU along religious lines” Navin added, “It was not for the first time that non-veg food was being served on Navratri in JNU. Since they (ABVP) wanted to create ruckus, they did.”

It is important to note that a violent clash erupted between two groups after the ABVP activists from different hostels gathered at Kaveri hostel on Sunday night. As per the police, six students were injured in the incident and taken to the hospital. However, the students claimed that the number of injured students is much higher than reported by the police.

In the violence, the Left outfits claimed about 50 of their members were injured while ABVP said around ten of its people were hurt.

Several videos have surfaced since Sunday night wherein Akhtarista Ansari, a second year MA student of sociology can be seen bleeding from the head. Following the incident, both groups of students held protests at different places on Sunday night.