Former students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Mizoram staged a demonstration on Friday to express solidarity with the students and teachers who were brutally assaulted on the institute campus on Sunday night.

About 50 people took part in the protest in front of Vanapa hall here.

The alumni strongly condemned the brutal attack on students and teachers by a masked mob on campus on January 5 and demanded stringent punishment for the accused. “We are appalled by the way students and teachers were beaten up with iron rods, hammers and sticks by masked goons associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad,” Lalthuama, an alumnus, said. He added that the “brutal attack on the country’s top university was an insult to the entire nation”.

The alumni said the recent attacks on various educational institutions across the country like Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and JNU, among others, was an attempt to stifle dissenting voices in democratic spaces such as universities and research institutes by a group of people with close connection to the ruling political regime.

According to the protesters, the attack on educational institutions across the state reflects the apathy of those in power towards the places of higher studies and research that help build a progressive and tolerant society. The JNU alumni, in its statement, said they strongly disbelieve in violence and confrontation as a solution to reconcile difference in a plural society like India.

“We kindly request those who are in power to try and make the JNU community feel safe within the campus and elsewhere. We would also like to reiterate that the former students of JNU from Mizoram firmly stand in solidarity with the entire fraternity of the university in its time of crisis,” the statement added.