Varsity fraternity against Mulayam's visit to Aligarh

Instead want Narendra Modi to visit their alumni meet

Communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar that claimed 62 lives and left thousands homeless threaten to cloud Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s proposed visit to the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Monday.

Students' groups and teachers announced their decision to oppose the visit in protest against what they alleged 'inaction' of the state government in providing succor to the riot victims.

A section of the students has also declared that it will invite BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to AMU if Mulayam visited the campus to take part in the alumni meet.

Scores of AMU students took out a procession inside the varsity campus on Saturday evening to register their protest to the SP leader's visit and also submitted a memorandum to the varsity authorities in this regard. The participants in the procession shouted ‘anti-Mulayam’ slogans and threatened to close the AMU gates in a bid to deny Mulayam entry into the campus. 

“The riot victims are still running from pillar to post for getting justice...they are still in the relief camps...now Mulayam Singh is trying to gain electoral gains by visiting the campus,” said a student leader.

The association of AMU teachers have also voiced their opposition to the visit saying that it was nothing but an attempt to gain political mileage. 

The teachers said that the state government had failed miserably to give relief to the victims of the riots. “The wounds from the communal clashes are still fresh...SP's role in the riots has been shameful,” said a teacher of the varsity.

The SP supremo is scheduled to visit AMU on Monday a day before the alumni meet, which is beginning on Tuesday. Former students are likely to visit the varsity from across the world.

The opposition by the AMU students and teachers has come as a shock to the SP leadership which is hoping to corner a large chunk of Muslim votes in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. 

The protests against Mulayam, if they do take place, would send a wrong signal to the Muslim community, the SP leaders here feel.