New Delhi: Clashes that left several students injured at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night were sparked allegedly over the serving of non-veg food in the mess on Ram Navami.
Six students were injured in the clashes that broke out around 7.30 pm. Visuals showed a student with a bleeding forehead, another with back injuries and a third with a bleeding palm.
There was simmering tension on the campus since afternoon after Left activists alleged that ABVP members were preventing non-veg food from being served in the Kaveri hostel mess.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) alleged that ABVP members assaulted the mess secretary and stopped staff from serving meat.
“As per the pre-decided menu, non-veg food is cooked on Sundays for those who are non-vegetarians while paneer is cooked for vegetarian students. ABVP students, however, objected to non-veg food on Ram Navami,” a student alleged.
He added that when mess staff were collecting meat packets from a vendor around 4 pm, ABVP members objected to it and allegedly assaulted the mess secretary.
ABVP activists, however, claimed non-veg food was not the issue. It claimed Left members tried to stop a puja from being organised in the hostel.
Both sides accused each other of pelting stones. Police were later called to the campus.
