New Delhi: Tensions surfaced at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday night after a section of students held a protest on campus following the Supreme Court’s decision to deny bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
Videos circulating on social media purportedly show students raising slogans critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the demonstration. The protest drew attention amid ongoing debates over free expression and political dissent within the university.
JNU Students’ Union president Aditi Mishra said the gathering was part of an annual protest held to mark and condemn the violence that took place on the campus on January 5, 2020. She maintained that the slogans raised were ideological in nature and not aimed at any individual personally.
“The slogans were expressions of political views. They were not targeted at anyone as a person,” Mishra told news agency PTI.
Police officials, meanwhile, said they had not received any formal complaint in connection with the slogans or the protest.
The demonstration also revived memories of the January 2020 violence at JNU, when masked assailants entered the campus and attacked students across three hostels. Armed with sticks, stones and iron rods, the attackers vandalised property and assaulted residents, leaving at least 28 people injured, including then JNU Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh.
The incident had sparked nationwide outrage and criticism of the Delhi Police, particularly over allegations of delayed intervention and the subsequent filing of FIRs that named student leaders among those accused of vandalism.
As political and legal developments continue to intersect with campus activism, JNU once again finds itself at the centre of a wider national conversation on dissent, accountability and student politics.
