Hindu Raksha Dal Claims Responsibility Of JNU Violence, Says Such Attacks To Continue In Future

Hindu Raksha Dal national convenor Pinki Choudhary has claimed responsibility for the brutal attack on students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night. In a video message issued late night on Monday, Choudhary said the cadres of his outfit had barged into the university campus on January 5 and perpetrated the attack students and faculty members. Choudhary said if the anti-national activities in other universities are not clamped down, they will too come under the radar of his outfit.

"The University has been a centre of communism-related activities. They abuse our religion and our nation. This would not be tolerated. We will carry out such attacks in the future as well. If our religion and our nation are being disrespected, then how we remain silent?" he said.

Hindu Raksha Dal's Pinky is taking responsibility of JNU attack pic.twitter.com/lJrgKZ0cU2

— Abhilasha Kishore (@iAbhilashaKish) January 7, 2020

On Sunday, a mob of masked young people stormed the JNU campus in south Delhi and systematically targeted students in three hostels, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones, and iron rods, hitting inmates and breaking windows, furniture and personal belongings. They also attacked a women's hostel.

A day later, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against unidentified persons for rioting and damaging property, officials said. According to the FIR, students were protesting against a hostel fee hike for the last few days. According to instructions issued by the high court, no protest is allowed within a 100-metre radius of the administrative block of the university.

The ABVP has denied being responsible, and in turn, has blamed Ghosh's Left-supported union of stage managing the violence. It also claimed that many of its activists were injured, but has not presented any to the media.

Meanwhile, there was an uneasy calm in the campus where there was a massive deployment of security personnel and authorities only allowed students with valid ID cards inside. However, these measures did not assuage the concerns of students over their safety.