Event on Afzal Guru divides JNU, varsity orders probe
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has demanded expulsion of students for organising an event on the ‘Kashmir struggle’ and ‘Against the hanging of Afzal Guru’ on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
A day after JNU students clashed over an event on campus in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013, the university on Wednesday ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor M Jagadeesh Kumar said a committee headed by chief proctor Krishan Kumar would investigate the matter.
“We had cancelled permission for the event when we came to know that it was not a cultural evening. They had applied for permission but did not give complete information about the programme. Hence, this is a case of indiscipline. A disciplinary inquiry will look into video recordings and evidence submitted by students,” said Kumar.
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On Tuesday evening, a group of students had organised a “cultural evening to protest the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt” and to show “solidarity with the struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self determination”. Despite the university administration denying permission to hold the event, the organisers went ahead.
A group of students led by members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protested against the event, which led to a clash near the Sabarmati Dhaba on the JNU campus.
JNU registrar Bupinder Zutshi said the university was not aware about the nature of event. “There was no mention of Afzal Guru. How can you talk about disintegration of the nation? Is this nationalist?,” he said.
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Saurabh Kumar Sharma, joint secretary of the JNU students union and the only ABVP member in the group, said they had filed a police complaint and would submit a letter to Union HRD minister Smriti Irani and home minister Rajnath Singh.
“This was an anti-national event. When we tried to stop them from holding a march, I was shown a gun. They raised anti-India slogans and for freedom of Kashmir. We have written to the V-C to expel the students,” Sharma said.
The organisers, however, said the ABVP termed everything that went against their ideology as “anti-national”.
“This is a set pattern where we get permission but then ABVP shows up right on the day of programme and the administration cancels permission at the last moment. Even screening of movies on controversial issues are considered anti-national. This is a repeat of what happened in Hyderabad University where ABVP’s actions forced Rohit to commit suicide,” said Anirban Bhattacharya, one of the organisers.