UP varsity cancels 'mushaira' after invitation to 'anti-CAA' poets

Minutes before the formal inauguration of the event, the Varsity officials announced its cancellation

A 'mushaira' (poetic symposium), organised by the Allahabad Central University, was cancelled at the eleventh hour allegedly after objections over invitation to some poets, who had taken part in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act last year.

According to the sources, the 'mushaira', organised jointly by the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, the department of Urdu at the University and its Central Cultural Committee, was scheduled to be held on Friday evening.

Minutes before the formal inauguration of the event, the Varsity officials announced the cancellation of the event without assigning any reason. Poets from different parts of the country had reached the venue by then.

Though the Varsity administration refused to disclose the reasons behind the cancellation, sources said that some saffron organisations and BJP leaders had objected to the presence of a few poets, who had taken part in the protests against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi.

''At least two of the poets invited to participate in the programme had not only taken part in the anti-CAA protests but had also made objectionable utterances against prime minister Narendra Modi,'' a local BJP leader said while speaking to DH.

Sources said that the matter had reached the chief minister's office here after some people posted messages on social media objecting to the presence of those two poets and demanding cancellation of the event.

Shaheen Bagh was the site of large scale protests by the women, mostly Muslims, against the CAA. The protests which began in December 2019 lasted for four months.