Professor Vivek Kumar from Delhi's Jawharlal Nehru University's was reportedly attacked during a symposium at Gwalior's Bal Bhawan on Sunday. He was giving a speech on "Baba Saheb Ke Sapno Ka Bhartiya Samaj" (Indian society as envisioned by Baba Saheb) when clashes broke out between two groups, reported the Hindustan Times.
The HT report identified the groups as the Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party, and the Ambedkar Vichar Manch. They battled with lathis and firing in the air was also witnessed. At least one activist from the Ambedkar Vichar Manch, Dinesh Maurya, was hurt while reports said that Professor Kumar escaped unhurt.
Eyewitnesses accounts suggested that the clashes were set off after Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha members tore up Ambedkarite literature outside the venue. Angry Ambedkar Vichar Manch activists blocked the roads and shouted slogans criticising the Narendra Modi government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The police filed a First Information Report against Vivek Sharma, the district president of the Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha, and 100 unknown persons, the Hindustan Times report said.
Sharma, in his defence told the newspaper that charges against him were "false and fabricated" while JNU Prof Vivek Kumar’s speech was "provocative and anti-national.
"In the symposium, pro-Mohammad Afzal and pro-Kanhaiya Kumar slogans were also shouted," he alleged.
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