Clashes Escalate At JNU Over Ravan Depiction Of Umar Khalid & Sharjeel Imam

In response, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) rejected all accusations and countered that the ABVP had orchestrated a politically motivated “Ravan Dahan” event to demonize Khalid and Imam.

Curated by: Jinit Parmar

Updated on: 3 October 2025 8:31 am

Amid these exchanges, both sides accused each other of attempting to destabilize campus unity and disrupt its cultural harmony. At the time of reporting, the JNU administration had not issued an official statement. Photo: File photo

Summary of this article

Tensions erupted at JNU during a Durga visarjan procession after a symbolic “Ravan Dahan” depicted former students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam as Ravan.
ABVP accused left-aligned student groups of attacking their procession, while AISA claimed ABVP staged the event to promote an Islamophobic narrative.
Both sides blamed each other for disrupting campus harmony, and the JNU administration had not issued an official response at the time.

Tensions escalated at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on October 2 when two student factions clashed during a Durga visarjan procession that allegedly featured a symbolic “Ravan Dahan” portraying former students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam as Ravan.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed that around 7 pm, left-aligned student groups—including AISA, SFI, and DSF—attacked their procession near the Sabarmati T‑Point, pelting stones, hurling abuses, and injuring male and female participants. ABVP JNU president Mayank Panchal denounced the incident as an assault on both faith and university culture. Praveen Piyush, another ABVP leader, called the targeting of female students especially “shameful” and demanded strong administrative action.

In response, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) rejected all accusations and countered that the ABVP had orchestrated a politically motivated “Ravan Dahan” event to demonize Khalid and Imam—both currently facing legal proceedings related to anti-CAA protests and the Delhi riots. AISA accused the ABVP of weaponizing religious sentiment to drive an Islamophobic narrative and questioned why other controversial figures were excluded from the symbolic “Ravan” portrayal. They appealed to the campus community to resist what they described as the divisive politics of the RSS-ABVP.