ABVP activist throws slipper at Kanhaiya in Nagpur, roughed up

The incident occurred when Kanhaiya had started his speech after paying a tribute to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Deekshabhoomi on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary

An activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a right-wing student organisation, was beaten up by a

JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others paying tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur on Thursday. (PTI)

mob after he hurled a slipper at the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, here on Thursday.

The incident occurred when Kanhaiya had started his speech after paying a tribute to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Deekshabhoomi on the occasion of his 125th birthday.

Although the activist missed the target, the organisers and Kanhaiya’s supporters took on the attacker, identified as Haridas Shinde, who is a Dalit .

Police detain a Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist who hurled shoe at JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar during a lecture session in Nagpur on Thursday.

Earlier, when Kanhaiya shared the dais with other dignitaries, several Bajrang Dal activists shouted slogans against him and tried to disrupted the meeting. They were also roughed up by organisers and handed over to the police.

Continuing his speech, Kanhaiya dubbed such attackers undemocratic and intolerants. “Is prakar joote aur patthar marne se main darne wala nahi,” he said.

Kanhaiya and two other JNU students, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, were arrested on sedition charges in February. They were released on a six-month interim bail last month. The incident had sparked a nationwide debate on nationalism and led to a face-off between the BJP and opposition parties, particularly the Congress.

Earlier, the city police detained six Bajrang Dal activists after they tried to attack Kanhaiya’s car when he arrived at the Nagpur airport in the morning. They also hurled stones at vehicles of the event organisers, who went to receive Kanhaiya.