BJP using ABVP to communalise secular educational institutions, says NCP on JNU violence

The Left-controlled JNUSU and RSS-affiliated ABVP accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members

ABVP students interact with media after yesterday's clash between students of left-wing and ABVP over non-veg food during Navratri, outside JNU campus, in New Delhi. Credit: PTI Photo

The NCP on Monday condemned the clash between two groups of students at JNU in Delhi a day earlier and accused the BJP of communalising secular educational institutions through the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Maharashtra NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase accused the BJP of wanting to disturb social harmony and bring in "authoritarian and majoritarian" rule in the country, and, hence, its volunteers were working in this manner.

Two groups of students clashed at Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) Kaveri Hostel on Sunday allegedly over serving of non-vegetarian food in the mess on Ram Navami, with police saying six students were injured in the incident.

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The Left-controlled JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) and RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad accused each other of pelting stones and injuring their members. The Leftist outfits claimed about 50 of their members were injured, while the ABVP said 10-12 of its activists were hurt.

"The NCP strongly condemns the incident of violence at the JNU campus…The BJP is communalising our secular educational institutions through ABVP. It has been observed time and again that ABVP volunteers have been trying to enforce their right-wing ideologies on students of various institutions," Tapase alleged.

"This is a direct attempt to weaken the secular framework of the very institution itself. Our acceptance to respect and live peacefully in a diverse and plural society is the main reason for discontent and, hence, BJP volunteers react in a manner only to disturb the peaceful dispensation,” the NCP leader added.

Tapase further claimed the time was "not far" when students of minority and backward classes will be "rejected" from government employment as part of "a larger design" of communal hatred.

The violence "initiated" by the ABVP is "a strategic move" in the direction "to scare and polarise" the student community, he said, adding that it was "absolutely shameful how BJP workers are wanting to dictate what students should eat, what they should wear, how they should behave".

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