THE IMAGES OF AGIRL, VISIBLY DISTRESSED, holding her bleeding forehead while explaining haltingly to a camera that she had been attacked by masked assailants, shocked the sensibilities of the nation. The girl was Aishe Ghosh, the elected president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), who had just returned from a peace meeting on January 5 called by the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA).
The meeting had been called specifically to assuage tempers that rose following sporadic incidents of assaults on students on the previous day. It was not unusual in the university’s culture to conduct such a meeting given its democratic culture. JNU is the only university where student elections are conducted by the students and an election commission elected by the students for the purpose. The administration has no role in it.
UNPRECEDENTED VIOLENCE
On January 5, the university witnessed unprecedented violence. That evening, apart from Aishe Ghosh and a large number of her fellow students, several members of the JNU faculty were attacked by a large mob of unidentified assailants armed with stones and sticks. One faculty member sustained serious head injuries. A particular students’ hostel and a teachers’ residential complex known as New Transit House (NTH) were specifically targeted by the mob.
Only a part of the violence of January 5 was captured on video by students, but even that was chilling. One particular image grabbed from the video showed two men and a woman in a checked shirt, all masked, holdings rods and sticks on the premises of SabarmatiHostel, named after the river in Gujarat (which evokes the memory of Mahatma Gandhi and his ashram on its banks). The gang went on the rampage looking for targets and smashed windows and doors.
This story is from the January 31, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 31, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
