E-Paper
'Labs of hate' vs 'Where is Komal Sharma?': JNU admin, student union fire salvos after row over slogans against PM, Shah
The JNU administration said universities are centres for innovation and cannot be "permitted to be converted into laboratories of hate".
Amid the ongoing row over ‘provocative slogans’ raised against PM Modi and Amit Shah, the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration on Tuesday vowed strictest action against involved students, saying the institution cannot be allowed to be converted into "laboratories of hate".
"The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has vowed the strictest action against students found raising objectionable slogans against Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Home Minister. An FIR has already been lodged in the matter," the university administration said in a post on X.
Though the university admin said an FIR has been lodged in the matter, police said an FIR was yet to be registered.
The JNU administration said that universities are centres for innovation and cannot be "permitted to be converted into laboratories of hate".
"Freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right. But any form of violence, unlawful conduct or anti-national activity will not be tolerated under any circumstances," it said, adding the students involved in the incident will face disciplinary measures, including immediate suspension, expulsion and permanent debarment.
The university authorities were speaking after a protest in the campus on Monday evening sparked row after several students raised objectionable slogans targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The objectionable slogans were allegedly raised over the denial of bail by the Supreme Court to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
Earlier in the day, the JNU administration wrote a letter to the Delhi Police saying certain students raised "highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory" slogans at the event that were in direct contempt of the Supreme Court and reflect a "wilful disrespect for constitutional institutions and established norms of civil and democratic discourse".
It named several students, including current Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aditi Mishra, and said they were identified during the programme.
Students's union hits back
Meanwhile, the JNUSU said there was an “organised attempt to defame the institution and intensify the persecution of students”, adding that the Monday event was held against the Jan 2020 violence that unfolded in the campus.
“JNUSU had organised a vigil on 5 January 2026 to keep the memory of the 2020 attacks on JNU alive and to highlight the abovementioned pattern of injustice at Sabarmati Hostel, which was the prime target of the 2020 attacks… These attempts at slander are an organised attempt defame JNU and intensify the persecution of students. Unfortunately the media whose role is to speak truth to power is siding by those in the government to spread slander against JNU,” the JNUSU statement said.
"Where is Komal Sharma and the ABVP goons who accepted planning and executing the attack on national television? The Delhi Police—which displays an extraordinary efficiency in filing FIRs against JNUSU office bearers for even the smallest acts of democratic resistance—has failed to make a single arrest in the 5 January case," it added.
On January 5, 2020, a mob had attacked the JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, during a protest march in the campus over the hostel fee hike. Days later, an unidentified woman was seen with the attackers and later identified as Komal Sharma. However, no arrests have been made in the case so far.
