New Delhi: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said in a circular Saturday that few students were obstructing security guards from carrying out their duties amid the lockdown in place to fight the Covid-19 outbreak, and indulging in abusive behavior besides making false allegations.
The reaction from the university came days after a JNU student landed in trouble after he allegedly tried to defy the lockdown only to be stopped by the security guards of the university.
The JNU Students’ Union has accused the guards of the security agency of misbehaving with girl students at Tapti Hostel on Friday. A statement shared by JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh also levelled charges against the security guards for allegedly manhandling a student near the North gate of the university. However, the JNUSU hasn’t furnished any evidence to support its claim.
In a counter, the university said, “Every time the security personnel try to carry out their duties as per the government guidelines and the instructions of the university, these few students try to obstruct, display abusive behaviour, physically try to assault the security guards on duty, make false allegations, take selective video shots and indulge in false propaganda through social media.”
The JNUSU has alleged that “on April 3 at Tapti hostel, a Cyclopse guard on duty not only misbehaved with female students, but also tried to enter the girls’ wing of the hostel.”
“The guard was found to be drunk and had to be removed after students pressurised the security supervisor. With Cyclopse this is hardly a surprise now. Since their appointment in September 2018, the security guards of the new security company have been found to be involved in multiple cases of being drunk on duty, misbehaving with students and even attacking them and abdicating their duty,” JNUSU said.
It also accused the security agency of being complicit in the January 5 violence on the campus when ABVP and Left unions accused each other of assault.
However, given that many guards helped the police in identifying those who were involved in the violence, and more recently stopped a defiant JNU student from violating the lockdown orders that resulted in an FIR against the concerned student, the sudden volley of charges appear to be suspicious.
“Such activities undermine the safety and security of the JNU community. Appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against anyone responsible for such acts,” the university said.
IANS
