Girls Intimidated at Fresher’s Event in JNU

Syed Ali Mujtaba

New Delhi - The fresher’s welcome event in the Department of Sociology at Jawaharlal University was marred by an exchange of hot words, physical abuse, intimidation, lewd comments made by female students, and much more.  

MA Sociology students organized a welcome party for the freshers on October 22, 2024, as per the tradition on the campus. It was an exclusively internal affair between the MA second-year and freshers who had just joined the course. Normally, in such events, there is singing, dancing, fun, and frolic all in a joyous mood.

The event took an ugly turn when a group of uninvited students from other departments barged into this celebration and behaved like goons, harassing the girls and attacking the boys.

“The function was abruptly abandoned due to the atmosphere of insecurity being developed due to ensuing intimidation and violence by the outside elements,” said Nisha, (name changed) a second-year MA sociology student.  

“The perpetrators of the violence were mostly from the ABVP who caused a disturbance in the peaceful conduct of the event, she added.”

“We guess that this was a planned systematic attack on the students by right-wing elements flourishing in the campus and nurturing a violent culture in the university,” she said.  

“A complaint to the JNU Administration and authorities concerned had already been made but no action against the perpetrators of the crime has been taken so far. The University’s Internal Complaint Committee is sleeping over the complaint and that is the reason to approach the press,” told a female student to this reporter whose mother is also a JNU Alumni.

“The safety of the female students who come from all over the country to study at JNU is at stake,” the female student said, requesting this event be brought into the public domain.

“We, the JNU alumni, are dismayed and aggrieved by the violence and harassment to the CSSS students and protest against such kinds of violent activities that are growing inside the campus,” said a press release issued for this purpose.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist. He was in JNU from 1987 to 1984. He did his M.Phil & Ph.D from SIS/JNU. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com