Mumbai: City erupts on protest following the JNU violence.

Mumbai: City erupts on protest following the JNU violence.

As news spread of the carnage unleashed by masked goons who entered the JNU campus, students began to gather on the pavement across the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

Pratip Acharya Rishikesh ChavanUpdated: Tuesday, January 07, 2020, 06:43 AM IST
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(Photo AFP)

Mumbai: Overnight protests at the Gateway of India in Mumbai against the violent attack on JNU students continued through Monday, as hundreds of students from colleges across the city, NGOs and prominent personalities continued to gather at the protest site.

As news spread of the carnage unleashed by masked goons who entered the JNU campus, students began to gather on the pavement across the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel from Sunday midnight, holding candles in a mark of protest. The midnight protest was also attended by JNU alumni Umar Khalid and Kunal Kamra.

Waving the national flag, those who gathered late into the night raised slogans and sang protest songs. Many of the slogans were directed against the Akhil Bharitiya Vidyarthi Parishad, whom they accused of being behind the attack on students.

With the crowd swelling on Monday morning, several messages were circulated on social media urging people to join the protest.

"We the students of TISS, IIT, university of Mumbai etc have actively and successfully occupied the heart of the city at Gateway until we don't know when! We need more representation across student groups/ collectives/ fronts.

Please come and join in large numbers with your banners. We need food, warm clothes, newspapers and a lot of you here," read one such appeal by the students.

Students who gathered at the site asserted that the protests would continue till justice was done. “Unless students of JNU get justice, our dharna will continue," said Imran Faizi, a former student union leader among those who had been protesting since midnight.

To sustain the protest at the site, many students and youth took it upon themselves to offer fruits, biscuits, first aid kits, power banks, mobile phone chargers and medicines to those who had gathered there.

Kapil Agarwal, a law student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) said an emergency general body meeting was called at the institute at 9:30 pm on Sunday, following which a decision to gather at Gateway of India was taken.

"We had a general body meeting as soon as reports emerged. Then we decided we need to gather somewhere and protest because people need to really know about all that is going on. Eventually the location was also decided," said Agarwal, who was among those students who played a key role in mobilising the crowd.

"We expected a crowd of thirty to forty people. But as word spread, more people showed up. By around midnight, there were hundreds of people" said Bilal Khan, a social activist who was present at the venue since Sunday midnight.

As day broke on Monday, many of those who had gathered late at night left for a break to freshen up, and came back later. By afternoon, more people gathered at Gateway of India from across the city.

On Tuesday evening, a protest march from Hutatma Chowk to Gateway of India was held by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice – comprising students of TISS, IIT-Bombay, Mumbai University and other educational institutions, along with representatives of political parties.

Slogans and cheers at the protest site at Gateway intensified through the day, as people continued to gather carrying placards and waving the national flag.

TISS student union leader, Aish Abdul Qader said, “The protest in Mumbai will act like a sledgehammer to the centre. We will be pressuring the Centre from every corner of the country so that they realise that if they try to suppress us, they will see more voices rising.”

The protest also saw people from various walks of life bonding together to condemn the violence at JNU. "Being Mumbaikars we are proud that we are able to display a healthy form of democracy.

We are here to make sure that one can raise one’s voice in a civilised manner, even without taking the law in one’s hand," said Thane-based real estate developer, Srideep Bhattacharya.

"When institutions fail, people rise. And today's crowd clearly shows that the government has failed. Be it freedom struggle or swadeshi movement, Mumbai always played a pivotal role.

Today's protest will send a clear message to Delhi," said Priyanka Jaiswal, who travelled all the way from Palghar to take part in the rally.

Among the politicians and celebrities who reached the protest site were housing minister Jitendra Awhad, actor Sushant Singh, NCP leader Vidya Chavan, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, comedian Varun Grover, NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, former High Court judge B G Kolse Patil.

"When people begin to fear intellect, there is anarchy," Awhad told reporters at the protest site. "I am going to convey feelings of the students to the government. When students agitate, one should understand that this is a serious issue," he said.

“People are condemning this dastardly attack and they are angry. The Government always had their eye on JNU. What will they gain by such attacks on JNU and several other universities? I was here during the 26/11 attack.

I will not compare this with the 26/11 attack. But wearing masks and attacking with dangerous weapons isn't less horrendous,” said Congress leader Nirupam.

Around 40 people entered JNU and attacked students. How did they enter without a check? How did this incident happen when the police was present in large numbers?

The police were at the main gate of the JNU. How was their intelligence so weak that they didn't know what happened inside for an hour and a half?” Rohit Pawar questioned.

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