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ABVP activists protest against VBU vice-chancellor, deface his vehicle
ABVP activists alleged the V-C had stopped the VBU convocation midway on August 5 in protest against abrogation of Article 370.
A group of ABVP activists waved black flags at Ramesh Sharan, the vice-chancellor of Vinoba Bhave University in Hazaribag, and defaced his official vehicle at Ranchi University campus by writing ‘go back aatankwadi’ on Monday.
They alleged the V-C had stopped the VBU convocation midway in Hazaribag on August 5 in protest against abrogation of Article 370.
The VBU V-C could not be contacted as his mobile phone remained switched off. University registrar Bansidhar Prasad Rukhaiyar declined comment.
Sharan had come to Ranchi University to attend a programme at the Women’s Studies Centre at department of economics. As the news of Sharan’s visit spread, ABVP activists gathered at the campus and started showing black flags and raising slogans against him.
Sharan’s vehicle parked in the campus was defaced by the activists. They allegedly painted the nameplate of his official vehicle with black colour and wrote ‘R Sharan Murdabad’ and ‘go back Atankwadi’ on body of the vehicle. They also sat on dharna from 12 noon to 4 pm.
Later, the university administration called in police to ensure Sharan’s safe departure from the campus, a university official said.
ABVP state organising secretary, Y Shukla, said they would be protesting against the VBU V-C wherever he went.
ABVP state working council member Atal Pandey said, “The V-C had stopped the convocation, attended by around 10,000 students, midway saying the Centre has lifted ‘Article 370’ from Jammu & Kashmir. This had happened in presence of Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu.”
Ashutosh Singh, another state working council member of ABVP, said several irregularities had also taken place during the convocation. “The degree certificate was being distributed on August 5 but on the certificate, the date was August 17. Besides, the food packets distributed on the occasion was also of low standard,” he said.
However, a VBU official, on the condition of anonymity, said the programme was stopped in view of students’ security, as anything could have happened in a ‘sensitive’ district like Hazaribag.
