Protests are being planned across India after masked men wielding sticks attacked students and teachers at a prestigious Delhi university on Sunday.
At least 40 students and staff of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were admitted to hospital with injuries.
Videos of the violence quickly spread via WhatsApp and were then broadcast on television, sparking shock and outrage.
Students in some cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad have already taken to the streets, protesting against the attack.
Police have begun a probe and say they have identified some of the assailants.
The cause of the attack is still unclear. But the JNU student union blamed Sunday’s violence on the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing student body linked to India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the ABVP said that its members also had been attacked by left-wing groups, with some receiving injuries.
The violence has been condemned across the board, including by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and foreign minister S Jaishankar – both of whom are alumni of the university.
What happened on Sunday at JNU?
The attack is believed to have begun close to 7pm local time (13:30 GMT) on Sunday, when a group comprising masked men and at least one woman, began attacking students. They were armed with stones, sticks and iron rods, according to students’ accounts.
“These were not small stones, these were big stones that could have broken our skulls,” Professor Atul Sood told NDTV. “I fell on the side and when I got up, I saw cars completely vandalised, including my car.”
Videos of the incident showed the campus in disarray, with broken glass and chairs flung about in some places. One video even showed the student union president bleeding from a head wound. She said she had been attacked by a masked man.
Professor Sood said about 50 teachers and 200 students had been holding a meeting on the campus when the attack began.
What do we know about the attack?
The cause of the attack and who was behind it is still unclear.
Students opposed to a hike in hostel fees have been protesting on campus against the move for the past few months. They say they had gathered for a meeting on Sunday when they were attacked. They told the BBC the ABVP was responsible for the violence.
The university initially released a statement informing students that “armed miscreants” were “roaming around, damaging property and attacking people”.
It later released another statement in which it blamed a “group of students” who were opposing an ongoing admission process to register new students. It is widely believed that the statement referred to leftist students who have been protesting against the fee hike.
There were violent clashes at JNU last year over the rise in hostel fees.
What is happening now?
The atmosphere at the campus is still tense, reports the BBC’s Vikas Pandey, who is at JNU.
“Students are really worried about their future. They fear more attacks. The fear is such that many of them refused to talk on camera, fearing reprisals,” he said.
Students have also said they will take out rallies against the violence on Monday. A group of them also protested against police “inaction” on Sunday night, alleging that it took them hours to get to the campus.
The attack at JNU has also struck a nerve because several universities and and cities have, in recent weeks, been seeing anti-government protests over a controversial citizenship law.
Some of the protests led to violence on campuses, and allegations of police using excessive force.
Now, further protests in support of JNU are being planned in several cities. In the financial capital, Mumbai, university students will continue a protest against the incident at the Gateway of India monument. They had gathered there by midnight.
Protests have also been announced by students at Jamia Millia Islamia university in Delhi, and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh state.
Demonstrations are also expected in the cities of Hyderabad, Chennai (formerly Madras), Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.
