Vandalised Swami Vivekananda statue restored at JNU campus

The statue of Swami Vivekananda, which was vandalised inside Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday has been restored. The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) said in a statement that the statue was vandalised by some miscreants to divert attention from the ongoing protest of the students against fee hike. 

The JNUSU added that their movement against the fee hike and the imposition of a draft hostel manual without consultation is going on in a peaceful manner and it is highly unlikely that students who are staring at a dark future due to the fee hike would commit any violence or undemocratic action. 

"We condemn unequivocally the attempts to malign the JNU Student Movement through acts which do not represent the JNU Student Movement. The JNU Student community does not endorse any act of vandalism done in its name and whoever does it is doing it in his or her own name and should not use the name of the movement to justify such acts," the JNUSU said.

"The acts of vandalism are a conspiracy to defame the university and it's democratic culture by the right-wing forces. The VC, the ruling regime and their lackeys on campus which is the ABVP want to divert the issue from the fee hike to pointless and polarizing debates. The so-called rollback of fee hike is a fiction," added the JNUSU.

The statue situated on the right side of the administrative block opposite the statue of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was vandalised by some unidentified miscreants. The incident took place just a day after some students of the JNU entered the administration block on Wednesday (November 13) and wrote objectionable messages for JNU vice-chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar.