JNU seeks FIR over protest slogans, administration tightens grip

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has sought the registration of a police case after students allegedly raised what the administration described as “highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory” slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah during a late-night programme on campus, sharply escalating its long-running conflict with the university’s predominantly Left-leaning students’ union.

In a letter addressed to the station house officer of Vasant Kunj (North), the JNU administration said the slogans were raised during an event titled 'A Night of Resistance with Guerrilla Dhaba', organised at around 10.00 pm on Monday, 5 January by students associated with the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU). The university has asked Delhi Police to register an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to the administration, the gathering at the Sabarmati premises initially appeared to be a small commemoration of the 5 January 2020 campus violence, with around 30–35 students present. However, it claimed the nature of the programme changed after a Supreme Court verdict on the bail pleas of former JNU student leaders Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, following which some participants allegedly raised slogans that the university said crossed the line from dissent into incitement.

In both its police complaint and a public statement issued by the registrar, the university asserted that the slogans reflected a “wilful disrespect for constitutional institutions” and amounted to contempt of the Supreme Court. “All stakeholders must understand the clear distinction between dissent, abuse and hate speech which leads to public disorder,” the statement said, warning that strict action would follow any further violations of campus rules.

The administration said it had identified several students present at the programme, including current JNUSU president Aditi Mishra, and alleged that the slogans were “deliberate, repeated” and carried the potential to seriously disrupt public order, campus harmony and the university’s security environment. Security personnel were deployed at the site and monitored the situation, it added. A video of the incident has since circulated widely on social media.

Senior university officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the competent authority had taken serious cognisance of the incident and that an internal inquiry was being set up alongside the police investigation. “If students are found guilty of violating any rules or regulations, disciplinary action will be taken,” an official said, adding that an advisory to students would be issued shortly.

Students, however, argue that the programme was part of an annual protest marking the 5 January 2020 violence, when masked assailants attacked hostels and students on the JNU campus for nearly two hours. At least 28 people were injured in that incident, including then JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, though no one has been convicted so far.

The latest standoff fits into a broader pattern of friction between the JNU administration and the students’ union over recent years. Since 2016, the campus has repeatedly been at the centre of national political controversies over alleged “anti-national” slogans, disciplinary actions, fee hikes, hostel regulations and restrictions on protests.

Successive administrations have accused the JNUSU of politicising the campus and violating codes of conduct, while student groups — mostly dominated by Left organisations — have countered that dissent is being criminalised and campus autonomy steadily eroded.

With the university now invoking criminal law and disciplinary proceedings, the episode threatens to reopen those fault lines once again.

With PTI inputs