Attack on JNU students reminded me of 26/11 terror attacks: Maharashtra CM

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Monday condemned JNU violence and said the mob attack reminded him of "26/11 terror attacks". "Students are feeling unsafe...I don't want to politicise the matter. But the faces behind the mask needs to be revealed," Thackeray added.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday compared JNU campus violence to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Condemning the attack on students on the JNU campus, Uddhav Thackeray said, “When I saw the news of JNU attack on TV, it reminded me of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.”

The Maharashtra CM criticised the JNU attackers who were masked and armed with rods, sticks and asked: “why did the attackers wear burka over their faces?”. “Masked attackers at JNU are cowards, their identity should be revealed,” said Uddhav Thackeray.

Uddhav Thackeray also assured that the students in Maharashtra are absolutely safe. “Students are feeling unsafe in this country. But the students in Maharashtra are safe. I will not let anything like this happen in my state,” CM Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai.

“If Delhi Police fail to find out perpetrators of the attack, then they will also be in the dock,” he said.

Uddhav Thackeray drew the parallel between the JNU violence and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack a day after a masked mob armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus.

Over 30 people, including JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.

Eyewitnesses alleged that the attackers entered the premises when a meeting was being held by JNU Teachers’ Association over the issue of violence on the campus, and assaulted students and professors. They also barged into three hostels.

Video footage aired by some TV channels showed a group of men, who were brandishing hockey sticks and rods, moving around a building.

The Left-controlled JNUSU and the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) blamed each other for the incident.