Sandip Chatterjee, 27, an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a resident of Bhuiphore in Dhanbad, termed Sunday’s attack on the students barbaric.

“A concerted attempt is being made to throttle the voice of democracy,” Chatterjee, a BA (history) graduate of the 2011-14 batch, said.

Chatterjee, who is also the district secretary of All India Student Federation, took part in a daylong dharna at Randhir Verma Chowk on Monday.

Members of other Left-wing student organisations, including the Marxist Student Federation and Students’ Federation of India, were also part of the three-hour agitation to condemn the attack on JNU students by masked goons allegedly belonging to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Holding the BJP government at the Centre responsible for a series of attacks against the students of JNU and other varsities, Chatterjee, who is preparing for National Eligibility Test, said the assault on students witnessed a significant rise after 2014 when the BJP assumed power at the Centre.

“This clearly indicates that an attempt is being made at the behest of the government to intimidate students. ABVP members, brandishing sticks and rods, entered the JNU campus yesterday (Sunday) and mercilessly beat up students. Even the teachers were not spared,” said Chatterjee, who did his MA in history from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

“Why did the goons enter the university with sticks and rods? Was a Ram Navami akhara taking place on the campus? Was it not police’s responsibility to take them to task?” Chatterjee said, terming the incident unprecedented.