NSUI vandalises Savarkar bust at DU, days after controversial installation

The structure, with Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and Veer Savarkar’s busts, was installed by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-led DU Students’ Union (DUSU) on August 20 — the last day of its tenure.

The controversy over the installation of Veer Savarkar’s statue in Delhi University took a new turn late Wednesday night after members of National Students Union of India (NSUI) sooted the bust and garlanded it with footwear.

A view of the pillar bearing the busts of Veer Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose that was installed at the Arts Faculty, North Campus in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Akshay Lakra, Delhi president of the NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, visited the structure site outside Arts Faculty complex at around 2 am on Thursday and paid his respects to the busts of Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose before blackening Savarkar’s bust and raising slogans against him.

“Putting Savarkar on the same pedestal as Bhagat Singh and Bose, they have tried to whitewash history and paint Savarkar as a patriot,” Lakra said. “We will not let ABVP use Singh and Bose as political pawns.”

The structure was installed by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-led DU Students’ Union (DUSU) on August 20 — the last day of its tenure.

DUSU president Shakti Singh admitted that the structure was placed without any permission from the university.

“Since November last year, we had been writing to the university administration seeking permission to install the busts. However, there was no response. So, we had to take some steps,” Singh said. So far, the university administration has not taken any action on the matter.

Proctor Neeta Sehgal has not responded to calls or messages on the matter.

The issue has caused a furore in the university and many students’ organisation have condemned the move. “Placing Savarkar’s bust on the same pedestal as other two great freedom fighters is not only an insult to their sacrifices but also an attempt to rewrite the history with lies,” Students Federation of India said in a statement.