Eighteen members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad were taken into custody on Tuesday after they organised a protest against an event relating to Kashmir at the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru and allegedly vandalised property, The Indian Express reported.
The ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, alleged that the university facilitated an event organised by a student group that depicted the Indian Army in a poor light, The Hindu reported. The students’ group described the event as an “anti-national activity”.
The RSS is the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The event was being conducted to discuss the Kunan Poshpora incident, The New Indian Express reported. It pertains to allegations of mass rape by security personnel in two villages of Kashmir in February 1991.
Azim Premji University said in a statement that it had “not authorised any event of this nature”, ANI reported.
Ahead of their protest, the ABVP had in a press release condemned the “anti-national, Kashmir separatist events and sessions against the Indian Army”, The Indian Express reported.
“Azim Premji University has been a centre for sessions against the sovereignty and integrity of our nation, Kashmir separatism and against the armed forces of our nation,” the newspaper quoted the ABVP as having alleged.
During the protest, ABVP members allegedly smeared the university’s signage with black ink, The Indian Express reported. Some of them entered the campus and spray-painted signboards and walls, after which security personnel intervened.
An unidentified student from the university told The Hindu that another student who tried to question why the group was vandalising the property was hit by the ABVP members. The student was taken to hospital, the newspaper reported.
The ABVP, in a memorandum addressed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, further sought strict action against the student group that organised the event and the university administration for allowing it.
In its statement, the university said that 20 persons had forced their way into the campus at about 6 pm on Tuesday. “They shouted slogans, vandalised some of the property, and assaulted a few of our security guards and students,” ANI quoted the institute as saying.
The university said that the incident was reported to the police and the persons were taken into custody.
“Those who had forced their entry into our campus were protesting about an event that they claimed was going to be held on our campus,” the statement said, adding that the event had not been authorised.
It added that the university followed strict procedures before any event was held on campus, according to ANI.
“This event which was allegedly planned by a small group of students did not happen at all,” it said. “We strongly condemn the ruckus and violence that was unleashed on our campus by this external group of people.”
Following the incident, students of the university held a protest against the ABVP’s actions and urged the government to act against them, The Hindu reported.
Confirming the detention of the 18 ABVP members, Superintendent of Police (Bengaluru Rural district) Chandrakanth MV told The Indian Express that the police had not been informed about the protest.
“As soon as we came to know, we rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “They should have submitted a written intimation and informed the local police before the protest. Citizens cannot take the law into their own hands.”
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