The official website of Jammu Central University was recently hacked by a group called ‘Kerala Cyber Warriors’ after certain students (hailing from Kerala) in Jammu Central University claimed being bashed and threatened by a group allegedly belonging to the ABVP.
The hackers posted on the website a detailed message about the alleged harassment of Kerala students by ABVP-RSS activists, for allegedly being “beef-eaters,” “JNU sympathisers,” etc.
According to a post by the hackers on their official page, two students were even beaten up and termed as “anti-nationals.” As per Asianet News, the students alleged that the Vice-Chancellor and hostel warden had blocked the students from lodging complaints, saying “if you complain, you will not be allowed to write the exam.” This reply made the students reach out to the Chief Minister’s office.
In a report by The Wire, one of the students involved in the tussle said that they never got a chance to talk to the Vice-Chancellor since the warden and other officials intervened. “We don’t know who is behind this hacking but it will make our lives more difficult. Our problems were on the verge of being solved. I don’t know who has done this hacking and why,” he said.
In a conversation with the news agency, the Vice-Chancellor denied any thrashing and beating on the students. He further added, “These are election times so these stories are being cooked up. As of now, I haven’t been approached by anyone and no one has formally complained. I am aware that the website was hacked. But these incidents are just happening for furthering the cause of some candidates during elections.”
When enquired the reason behind hacking the website, Tintu Arunav, the admin of the hacker group Kerala Cyber Warriors told Campus Watch that “students are there for education and not to know what they should and should not eat.”
On being asked about their future course of action, he said, “As of now it (the website) is recovered but we can still hack it. But we are not defacing it. And if something like this happens again within the university, we will target all their computers in their buildings.”
With this open threat, he further added, “right now, we are moving out to new missions.”
The Wikipedia page of Kerala Cyber Warriors mentions how this group has previously hacked various Pakistani government websites in retaliation to the country’s treatment of Kulbhushan Jadhav. They have also hacked websites of the Bangladesh government after a morphed image of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was circulated by the Bangladeshi cricket fans.
The ABVP in-charge of the Central University of Jammu, Mukesh, said that the clash following the folk dance on April 12 was between a group of Jammu students and ones from Kerala “over some personal issues.”
“I was a witness to the clash and I know that no one got badly beaten. The Kerala students were intoxicated and though the Jammu students started the fight, they were the ones who got injured afterwards. The Kerala students did not get injured,” he explained. “Moreover, ABVP or RSS had no role in it. They are making a big issue out of it alleging that the tussle was because of ideological differences or them eating beef, but it is not so. It is unfortunate that this has happened even after things were on the verge of getting resolved,” he further added.
With an increase in such cases over the consumption of beef, one is forced to wonder about the way the freedom of choice is manifesting in different spaces and forms in the country.