Ground Report: How BBC Documentary Screening Was ‘Blocked’ in JNU; Stone-Pelting Blamed on ABVP

On Tuesday, JNU Students Union (JNUSU) had announced the screening of a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Before this screening, the JNU administration had advised the students not to go ahead with the screening, but when the students did not agree, the administration cut off electricity, plunging the entire campus into darkness for several hours. The Internet was also shut down. But all this failed to stop the students from going ahead with the screening of part one of the BBC documentary.

As an alternative, the students started screening the film on their laptops and mobiles instead of projectors and big screens. While a large number of students were peacefully watching the film outside the JNUSU office at night, sudden stone-pelting started in the dark. The students and the JNUSU involved, who were involved in organising the screening claim that the stone-pelting was initiated by the ABVP or Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organisation affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Several students were injured in this attack, after which the student union and the rest of the students complained to the police standing outside the campus gate, but were told that they had got no orders from above yet.

Thereafter, around 1 o'clock at night, the students marched in hundreds to the nearby Vasant Kunj police station to register their complaint. The march was led by JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh.

NewsClick team was present at the spot during the entire incident and we spoke to some students present there, who termed it as an outcome of the “dictatorial attitude of the administration” and condemned the attack on students. Many said that Tuesday’s incident reminded them of the ‘black night’ of January 5, 2020, when police stood by when a group of masked ABVP men and women, allegedly from ABVP, brandishing lathis, attacked students and teachers at night.

Read Also: JNU Violence: One Year Later, Victims Await Fair Investigation 

What is the Whole Issue

The BBC documentary,India: The Modi Question, is a two-part series on the Gujarat 2002 communal violence when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of the state and cites a UK report saying that he “was directly responsible” for it.  The government has blocked its links from social media and websites, but it has been screened in many universities, especially in South India.

On Tuesday, JNU students had announced a screening of this documentary at 9 p.m.  The JNU administration issued an ‘advisory’ saying that disciplinary action would be taken if it was screened. However, the students, terming it as their fundamental right, termed the admin order as “wrong” and said that the screening in no way violates any rules of the university.

Students started gathering at the venue where the documentary was to be screened, but around 8:30 p.m, about half an hour before the screening was to start, the entire campus plunged into darkness.

The gathered students started blaming the administration, alleging that electricity had been cut off “deliberately”.  Soon, the number of students started increasing in no time a large number of students gathered at the venue. During this, Ghosh addressed the students, standing on a bike amid the lights of mobiles and motorcycle headlights.

“We will go ahead with the screening. The BBC documentary is not banned. This film shows the truth and they are afraid that the truth will come out," she said.

Ghosh attacked the administration and said: “You can cut electricity, but you cannot snatch away our eyes, our spirit, you cannot stop the screening. You shut the screen, we will see it on a thousand screens. If the police and (ruling party) BJP have guts, then stop us."

Ghosh said: “ABVP could have written a letter of condemnation, but this campus does not run on the orders of the Sangh. We want to make it clear that what BJP says, doesn't matter to us."

Ghosh further said: "Their (Sangh) people are asking for the arrest of those who screened the documentary in JNU. But they do not feel ashamed when wrestlers, who won medals for the country, sit on a dharna and say that the president of the wrestling association, who is a BJP MP, exploited us. This clearly shows what ideology these people believe in."

The JNUSU president then announced that:"We have laptops, but Wi-Fi has been disabled, but we will watch this documentary today itself, we will distribute QR codes. If they shut one screen, we will open lakhs of screens and share the link with all those present in the JNUSU office."

‘It's a Shame to cut off Lights in the Campus’

Meanwhile, the students who had gathered for the screening started raising slogans against the administration and the government. NewsClick spoke to several students present there. A first year girl student, on the condition of anonymity, said: “I came to watch the documentary on my own free will with my friends, but it is very shameful to cut off the lights like this.”

Since the new academic session has just started, a large number of new students had come for the screening.

One such student, Pragya, a first year BA student, said: "I have come from Bihar. I have nothing to do with any student organisation. We also saw the screening by ABVP for the film Kashmir Files a few days ago, and dalit organisations screened Jai Bhim, but there was never any problem. Today, too, we came to watch the screening but cutting off the electricity and banning the viewing of the documentary is completely wrong. Why does the government not want people to see it? Does Modi ji not have faith in the country? The country has given him so much support, is he afraid of losing this support?"

Vishwanath, an MA student, who was also watching the documentary on his mobile, said: "This government cannot tolerate criticism at all. This entire documentary is based on the statements of people. It also contains the statement of Narendra Modi in which he says that it is my fault that “I did not control the media”. We all know what he meant by this sentence. This documentary is raising new questions on the government and Modi, which BJP is afraid of, because they have worked hard to get rid of ‘that’ image of Modi. They think that if this film reaches the common people, then the image they have built of this ‘great man’ will be tarnished.”

ABVP Being Accused of Stone Pelting in the Dark

The NewsClick team, along with other mediapersons, was present when the students started watching the documentary. Apart from this, there was police in civil dress and JNU security personnel, who were also seen talking to the students.

Suddenly, in the midst of darkness, stone pelting began on the students, followed by sloganeering from both sides, after which there was chaos. Some students started running out of the venue to save themselves. In a few minutes, the venue became deserted and the students started moving toward the main road, trying to save each other from stone-pelting.

Meanwhile, the JNUSU announced a march till the campus main gate, and a large number of students followed, raising slogans against the government, the administration and the alleged attackers, the ABVP. During all these incidents, there was still no electricity in the campus.

Around 11p.m, the students staged a dharna at the main gate and demanded the arrest of the culprits and restoration of electricity by the administration. At this time, stone pelting started again in the presence of security personnel. We could see stones being hurled at the protesting students from the bushes in the forest area.

One student said he was not only hit by stones but also kicked and punched by a group that had surrounded him. He blamed ABVP for this attack.

Amid all this, the police outside the campus and the security personnel inside remained mute spectators. The only light that was available was of media cameras, with the help of which angry and injured students were describing their injuries and pain. Incidentally, Delhi Police was present in several vehicles outside the campus, but stood silent.

Addressing the media, Ghosh said: "We never thought that the JNU administration would stoop so low that it would even resort to stone pelting to stop the screening of the film. We will not go inside until the electricity is restored.”

She once again accused ABVP of violence and said that she had seen ABVP men pelting stones. NewsClick, however, does not verify these claims.

ABVP Denies Stone-Pelting Charge

Meanwhile, about eight to 10 ABVP people also came in front of the media cameras, raising slogans like 'Vande Mataram' and 'Naxals, Leave the Campus'. They denied the allegations leveled against them for violence on campus and accused the Left student organisations of “vitiating the atmosphere.”

Talking to NewsClick, ABVP JNU joint secretary Nishant Vidyarthi said: “Our people are being surrounded and beaten under the leadership of the student union” adding that “these people are showing banned documentaries by alluring students. This is a deliberate attempt to malign the campus.”

When asked to comment on the fact that ABVP had also done many screenings but no stones were pelted nor electricity cut, Vidyarthi said that “no stones were pelted” and that the administration cut off electricity “to maintain peace”. After saying this, he went away. NewsClick was witness to stone-pelting and clashes that took place after that.

After getting no response from the JNU admin,  the gathered students took out a foot march from the campus to the Vasant Kunj police station and held a demonstration there. After that, a delegation of the student union went inside the police station around 1:30 a.m and made their complaint to the police officials. However, so far no response has come from the university administration on this issue.

Incidentally, Hyderabad Central University and several colleges in Kerala have already screened the BBC documentary, and some campuses have announced collective screenings.

In Hyderabad, too, the ABVP had complained about the screening.

On Wednesday, Students Federation of India (SFI), Jamia Millia Islamia unit, which had also organised a screening of the documentary, said their secretary,Nivedya, and other students, such as and SFI South Delhi vice-president Abhiram and Tejas were detained by Delhi Police prior to the screening of thed ocumentary.

The SFI’s Jamia unit has called for a protest against the "crackdown" at 4 p.m today, it said.

(translated from Hindi).

Read the original version at https://hindi.newsclick.in/JNU-Ground-Report-Late-night-ruckus-due-to-screening-of-BBC-documentary-Stone-pelting-took-place-blame-on-ABVP