JNU students protest against Minister’s presence  

A large number of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday staged a protest to oppose a lecture programme of Union Minister Jitendra Singh on revoking of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The situation turned unruly after RSS-affiliated ABVP students staged a counter-protest on the campus.

The JNU had organised a talk on "Abrogation of Article 370: Peace, Stability and Development in Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh" in which Singh, a senior leader from Jammu and Kashmir, was invited to deliver a lecture around 4 p.m. at Convention Centre of the university.

To protest against Singh's presence, students from various courses and party affiliations raised slogans against the central government for its August 5 decision to scrap special status of Jammu and Kashmir granted under Article 370.

Soon after these students gathered outside the Convention Centre of the university raising slogans, several student supporters of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) reached there and began counter-protest, leading to heckling and manhandling by rival groups.