PU students disrupt Haryana assembly speaker’s address

Carrying placards, the students raised slogans against vice-chancellor Raj Kumar

A day after masked miscreants attacked students and teachers at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), a group of Panjab University (PU) students disrupted Haryana legislative assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta’s address during a seminar on campus.

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Carrying placards, the students raised slogans against vice-chancellor Raj Kumar and BJP when speaker Gian Chand Gupta was talking about the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti padhao’ initiative of the BJP government during a seminar on ‘Women’s participation in decision making”.

The protesting students were soon escorted out of the seminar hall by security guards but the seminar had to be halted for about 10 minutes. The students alleged that the speaker had not said a single thing about the violence against female students at JNU.

SFS leader and former Panjab University Campus students’ council (PUCSC) president Kanupriya said, “The seminar did not address the current situation wherein the state is meting out brutality on its students. At a seminar on women, no one spoke about the attack at JNU, where a female president was brutally assaulted by goons. Such seminars are very hollow and we registered our dissent.”

The seminar at Panjab University was organised by the National Commission for Women, in which additional Solicitor General of India, Satya Pal Jain also delivered a speech.

“While the BJP speakers are talking about women empowerment, they have not uttered a word on JNU incident that left female students and a female professor injured. The BJP government did not do anything to stop the violence against students at JNU,” said Panjab Students Union (PSU, Lalkaar) leader Amandeep.

Reacting very sharply Gian Chand Gupta, in his address after being interrupted, said, “These people are against the unity of the nation and we should give them a fitting reply. We need to understand such people are dividing the nation. They are causing hindrance in a seminar which is for women empowerment; they are enemies of the nation.”

National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma, who also attended the seminar, said, “This is their wish. This is a free country. They (students) put forth their views.”

Sharma said as far as the JNU violence was concerned, the Union home ministry had a taken cognisance of it. “I will meet the girls injured in this incident,” she said.

(with PTI inputs)