Fact check: Did AISA Students Fake Injuries During Violence At JNU?

New Delhi, Apr 13: A collage of two photos have gone viral across social media after a violence broke out in the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in Delhi on on April 10 allegedly over meat being served in a hostel mess on the Hindu festival of Ram Navami.

Left-leaning student bodies and the Left-led JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) have alleged that ABVP members stopped the mess vendor from supplying chicken and attacked him on April 10 afternoon.

However, the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) denied the charge, asserting that "Leftists" obstructed a puja organised at the hostel on Ram Navami and were using diversionary tactics by raising the issue of serving of non-vegetarian food.

However, the viral social media posts contain a collage of two photos. The first photo shows a student wearing a blue Kurti holding another student in a grey top.

JNU में लेफ्ट आतंक का पर्दाफाश !!

Pic 1 : Blue Girl in the first pic condoling the white top girl.

Pic 2 : Girl in white top condoling blue top girl. #AntiHinduLeft #HinduPhobicLeft pic.twitter.com/5mDqNnVTMt

— Akshit Dahiya DUSU (@iAkshitDahiya) April 11, 2022

The second photo presumably shows the student in the grey top, who looks relatively uninjured, inspecting the student's injuries dressed in the blue Kurti, who is resting on a table.

Both photos, in the sequence described above, are being shared on social media users claiming the students are faking their injuries.

However, the viral claim is found to be false and that the order in which the photos are being shared by right-wing users online is actually the opposite of when they were taken.

The student seen in the sleeveless off white top is Akhtarista Ansari and the student in the blue kurti is identified as Madhurima Kundu. She shared the original photos from the viral posts and the EXIF data. Both are members of the All India Students Association (AISA) at JNU.

See the time when the photos were taken. A clear time gap of 6 minutes. I got unconscious after being hit. After I got control over myself, and we started moving out, Akhtarista was hit by a big rock.

Down with ABVP attack!
Right to Food Zindabad! pic.twitter.com/cR8hcrJlFh

— Madhurima Kundu (@madhurima_k_) April 11, 2022

I have been discharged from AIIMS and i am better now. Thanks to everyone for checking on me.
The fight against the Sanghi goons and fascist forces will go on.
Inquilab Zindabad.#ArrestSanghiGoons

— Akhtarista Ansari (@AktaristaAnsari) April 10, 2022

Similarly, Akhtarista Ansari tweeted about her health from her official Twitter account.

I love eating chicken and getting beaten up for it. #ABVP can go fuck themselves. pic.twitter.com/TqCOd87fgl

— Akhtarista Ansari (@AktaristaAnsari) April 12, 2022