New Delhi: It is indeed mystifying that hours before the violence, several gypsies of Delhi Police control room were seen in the vicinity of the JNU campus.
Many local residents have confirmed that the patrol vans were circling JNU since noon. Did the Delhi Police get prior intelligence regarding JNU violence on Sunday morning, or in the afternoon? If yes, then why did the police not meet the JNU administration staff and warn them of the impending trouble?
Another question vexing the minds of most right-thinking citizens is why these police vans failed to reach the campus on time.
Also, given the pronounced police presence in the vicinity, with the nearest police station just a km away at Vasant Kunj, how did the lathi-wielding masked goons enter the campus? To this, the response of the police was tepid.
"It is still unknown whether the masked hoodlums were insiders or outsiders?’’ said an official. Did the conduct of the police in the Jamia Milia varsity recently, when they got considerable flak for entering the campus, hold them back? Possibly.
Incidentally, a posse of policemen was present on the JNU campus, too. In their first official statement on their belated response to the mayhem on Sunday evening, the Delhi Police claimed that the violence had erupted at a spot far away from where their personnel were posted.
"We are usually deployed in the administration block but the place where the scuffle broke out was a little farther. The JNU administration called us up around 7:45 pm, after which we brought the situation under control.’’
Even as the university staff pussyfooted over whether to call the police or not, there were incessant distress calls to PCR vans. No wonder, by the time the university administration called the police, the students were livid.
Later, trying to placate the angry students, the cops got into needless arguments with them.
The university, too, initially merely put out a cryptic statement saying that there was a ‘law and order’ problem on the campus – a statement which was subsequently withdrawn. All this while, the nation could see the mindless violence unfold on the TV screens.
This puts the university under the scanner. Was there an inordinate delay on the part of the varsity administration in reacting to Sunday's horrific incident?
The university on Monday said calling the police inside the campus without reason would have provoked the students. The varsity has only two entry and exit points, both manned by security.
