On Monday morning, a group of students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) were busy collecting signatures for their latest campaign — to increase the democratic space in academic institutions
On Monday morning, a group of students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) were busy collecting signatures for their latest campaign — to increase the democratic space in academic institutions. A few hundred signatures had been collected already and would be part of a letter addressed to President Pranab Mukherjee. Around 1.40 pm, a group of hooligans shouting abuse attacked the campaigners who were holding a peaceful protest against the JNU incident.
The furniture in the room was upturned and the sheet of signatures torn up as the angry protesters accused the students of being “anti-national” and “turning IISc into a terrorist house”. Although the campus security handled the situation and restored peace in about 10 minutes, sources say the situation is still “volatile”.
“We started our campaign on Sunday and everything was peaceful,” said a student. The group included members from CONCERN, an on-campus gathering comprising liberal and left-leaning students as well as others who participated in their individual capacity. “Things seemed to be going well on Monday, too, till these goons showed up. We’re not sure who they are, but we heard that they are part of the institute too,” he said.
The posters made by the campaigners were apparently the trigger for the right-wing students who attacked them. The posters contained slogans like “Kill sedition law”, “Condemn sectarian slogans” and “Stand with JNU”.
“They tore down the posters and vandalised the furniture,” the student said. “Our signature campaign was completely voluntary — passersby were asked to read it and sign if they wished to. These people could have told us they disagreed with us instead of resorting to vandalism,” he said.
The students handed a written complaint to the campus security, who have promised to take the matter to the dean. The students said that they were determined to carry on with their signature campaign.
