Row over ABVP's 'Tiranga Yatra' at Aligarh varsity

A row has erupted over the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) administration's show cause notice to an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader for organising a bike rally titled 'Tiranga Yatra” on the campus without prior approval.

The varsity administration has sought an explanation from ABVP leader Ajay Singh, whose grandfather Thakur Dalveer Singh is a BJP legislator from Barauli constituency of Uttar Pradesh, noting that he had attempted to disrupt peace on the campus by holding the "unauthorised procession" on January 22.

Outsiders join rally

In the show cause notice, University proctor Mohammad Mohsin Khan has noted that “some outsiders and anti-social elements” had also joined the bike rally “on pursuance of” Singh, which created fear among the “bonafide students.”

While the local Congress leaders questioned the intention behind the ABVP leader organising the event at AMU, BJP's Member of Parliament (MP) from Aligarh, Satish Kumar Gautam, has shot off a letter to Union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar, seeking his intervention.

In his letter, the BJP lawmaker has requested Javadekar to seek “an explanation” from the AMU administration as to why a notice was served on the ABVP leader for organising “a patriotic event” on the campus.

“For last few months, university's atmosphere is being vitiated. Those standing with the forces against the country and people who make absurd statements against the government of India are several times invited to programmes organised on the campus,” the BJP MP added.

ABVP's intent?

All India Congress Committee secretary and former MLA from Uttar Pradesh Naseeb Singh questioned the intention of the ABVP behind organising the event.

“They (ABVP) have nothing to do with 'Tiranga (tri-colour).' By holding such an event, they just want to create a frenzy on the campus and nothing else,” he told DH when asked for his comment.

Last year in May, the AMU witnessed a massive unrest on its campus for several days over a portrait of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, which was hanging in the university's students union hall for decades.

The Hindu Jagaran Manch activists allegedly stormed into the campus and created a ruckus, demanding removal of Jinnah's portrait. Amidst the row, the university witnessed a clash between two sections of students on the campus and lathicharge by police, which left several people injured.