New Delhi : The CPI-M on Monday condemned the “shocking incident of hooliganism” by some lawyers and goons who it said were linked to the BJP at the Patiala House court here.
A CPI-M statement said teachers and students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and journalists were physically assaulted and driven out of the court.
“Several people suffered injuries,” the Communist Party of India-Marxist said. It said the JNU Students Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedition, was to have been produced in the court on Monday.
The CPI-M “condemns the inaction of Delhi Police which was stationed there in sizeable strength”.
It asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi to answer for this dereliction of duty.
The CPI-M demanded the immediate arrest of all those responsible for the violence and attacks in the court premises.
In a separate statement, the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) also deplored the beating up of journalists and JNU students and teachers in the court premises.
“Several of them, including a few journalists, were severely injured and had to be taken to the hospital. Even women journalists were not spared by the goons.
“It is surprising that though there was a heavy presence of the police, it refused to intervene despite repeated requests by those who were being beaten up.”
The DUJ demanded the immediate arrest of all those who indulged in the violence. “It is the responsibility of the police to provide protection to journalists who were discharging their duty.”