JOIN USClosed after ABVP member smeared ink on DU official
The DU administration reopened the Delhi University Students’ Union office amid protests by two students’ groups.
The office was sealed a day after Raju Rawat, an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad member and then DUSU joint secretary, smeared ink on the face of South Campus director Umesh Rai.
Even though the student representatives were allowed to function from the DUSU office, members of ABVP on Tuesday staged a protest against Rawat’s rustication. The National Students’ Union of India too staged a simultaneous protest, but demanded his arrest instead.
“There is a procedure for instituting inquiry. But the administration didn’t give him a hearing,” said ABVP’s national secretary Rohit Chahal.
“ABVP leader manhandles DU professor over deriding Modi,” said an NSUI poster. Rawat had smeared ink after Rai allegedly passed inflammatory remarks against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The two were having a discussion on the controversial four-year undergraduate programme.
DUSU secretary Karishma Thakur said that she would not occupy her office until Rawat is arrested. She is the only NSUI representative in the students’ body.
“Even we have been opposing the four-year undergraduate programme. But that was not the way to. He even uploaded a video of the incident on YouTube,” she added.Rawat was not rusticated for his indignation to the professor, claims DU.
“The rustication of Raju Rawat is the consequence of an earlier incident of violence on January 2, for which an inquiry was conducted. Its report reached the university a few days before the incident on April 7,” the university said in a statement.
The university announced the reopening of the offices, except that of the joint secretary, on recommendations of the preliminary fact-finding committee’s report. According to the university, the DUSU office was shifted to another location until the fact-finding committee submitted it report.
“The office was temporarily shifted to a location near the area from which some office bearers of DUSU have been functioning,” a university official said.
ABVP members, however, denied the university’s claims. “We never received any notice. It was an attempt to subvert the democratic process,” said DUSU president Aman Awana.