DU yet to remove busts of Savarkar and others from campus

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ group Singh belongs to, distanced itself from the DUSU president’s move.

Four days after Delhi University’s students’ union (DUSU) president installed the busts of Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose and VD Sarvakar without permission in the campus, the administration is yet to take any action to remove the structure.

Security personnel have been deployed to guard the statue of Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose at Arts Faculty, North Campus in New Delhi, India, on Friday, August 23, 2019 (Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

On Friday, DU proctor Neeta Sehgal reiterated the university’s stand: “The students said they would remove the structure and we are waiting for them to do that.”

On August 20, outgoing DUSU president Shakti Singh placed the busts of Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh, and Subhas Chandra Bose outside DU’s Arts Faculty to “inspire the youth by their legacy and erase the false narrative spread against freedom fighters like Savarkar and Bhagat Singh.” Singh had confessed that the structures were placed without permission. “We took this step after the university refused our requests on the matter for over nine months,” he said.

However, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ group Singh belongs to, distanced itself from the DUSU president’s move. “ABVP has clarified to DUSU that the busts should be kept in the DUSU office till permission is granted and should be installed only after the due permission of the administration,” Siddharth Yadav, ABVP Delhi state secretary, had said. However, Sehgal on Friday clarified that the university wanted removal of the busts and not a relocation.

A senior police officer said the move was to ensure law and order since there were two different groups of students had gathered outside Arts Faculty. “The students were dispersed and a few who resisted had to be detained,” the officer added.

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