BHU violence: Probe nails varsity administration, govt says outsiders

A preliminary inquiry into the violence on Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus has held the varsity administration responsible for the violence even as Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday claimed that ''outsiders'' were behind the trouble and that the agitation had been ''funded'' by some political parties.
 
According to the sources Varanasi commissioner Nitin Gokarn, who handed over his report to the state chief secretary on Tuesday, squarely blamed the varsity officials for events that unfolded on the campus on Saturday night and Sunday.
 
Sources said that the commissioner pointed out in his report that the varsity administration ignored the complaint of alleged molestation of a girl on the campus. ''The situation would not have taken a violent turn had the varsity authorities acted upon the complaint,'' the report said.
 
It also said that the varsity administration made no attempt to defuse the tension that ultimately led to violence.
 
The state government, however, on Tuesday claimed that ''outside'' elements were behind the violence in BHU. ''We have credible reports that people from outside had infiltrated the groups of students and precipitated the crisis,'' said a senior UP minister here.
 
According to the sources the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) has in its report said that there was a deliberate attempt to ''hijack'' the agitation by some political outfits in an effort to ''tarnish'' the image of the government.
 
''People from Delhi and Hyderabad and other places had joined the students at BHU...they intentionally refused to listen to the varsity authorities...the objective was to attain greater media coverage especially since the prime minister was in the town on that day,'' the LIU report said.
 
It also claimed that ''funds'' were arranged by some political outfits to keep the agitation going.
 
The vice-chancellor of the varsity G.C.Tripathi had also alleged that attempts were made to give the agitation a political color.