'ABVP made false claims': JNU hostel committee asks university to withdraw statement, meet victims

NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)’s Kaveri hostel and mess committee said in a statement that Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) made false claims and demanded JNU administration to withdraw its statement and urged representatives to meet victims of “unfortunate” violence which happened in the Kaveri hostel on April 10 over serving of non-vegetarian food on the occasion of Ram Navami.

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“The unfortunate set of events which transpired inside Kaveri hostel on April 10, 2022 were a disappointing consequence of administrative callousness; suppression and politicization of the right to choice of food,” said the Committee in an official statement.

ABVP claims

ABVP claims that the hostel committee and left organizations objected to the Ram Navami pooja and that it had no objection to the food menu on the day are false and the students’ union has not been able to produce evidence in support of its statements, said the Kaveri Committee.

“Navami pooja began at 4 pm and concluded around 7pm, while iftaar took place at 6:45pm, with preparations beginning 30 minutes earlier. The pooja happened side by side with the iftaar quite seamlessly. Residents of the hostel as well as other students participated,” it said.

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Secondly, the Committee referred to videos of some ABVP activists (including non-residents of Kaveri hostel) threatening the meat vendor. “The first time was around 2 pm; the second time was roughly around 3:30 pm,” it said. The chicken supplier also gave his official statement regarding the threat, it added.

“Callousness” of wardens

Talking about the “callousness of officials”, the Committee said that “the Warden(s) attempted to impose unilaterally that non-veg food should not be cooked on April 10 since there is a pooja in the hostel premises on occasion of Ram Navami.” The mess secretary opposed the decision and offered to accept it only if the wardens gave a reasonable explanation to students’ question but neither there was a response nor they accepted the proposal. In addition, they didn’t try to stop the threats to the meat vendor, the Committee alleged.

“The information about a potential fallout reached the administrative ears long before matters got extremely violent. Yet, no official intervened,” it added.

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The Committee has alleged Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of twisting the narrative to a communal direction, accused wardens of being ignorant and irresponsible, and called the university's administration’s statement on the issue false.

“The Kaveri Hostel Committee and mess committee maintains that it has lost confidence in the Wardens' credibility as administrators. The hostel is also home to several physically handicapped students. That such violent incidents are taking place due to administrative incapability or lack of will, is a sign of deep worry,” the Committee further said in the statement.