Armed Hindutva goons, reportedly members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, on Wednesday entered the campus of the Aligarh Muslim University and attacked students.
Local students said that several members of the Hindutva outfit, founded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, entered the AMU campus during the visit of former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari.
One student Sharjeel Usmani wrote, “15 Sanghi goons enter AMU campus with pistols and revolvers, accompanied by a policeman in uniform. They attack a student who was passing by. Students’ Union and other students’ leaders come to rescue. 6 goons are caught and are handed over to police. The police has released those 6 goons and is not ready to file an FIR.”
The Hindutva goons entered the campus through the iconic Bab-E-Syed entrance. The student union has issued an ultimatum to local cops to arrest all ‘anti-social elements within 30 minutes’ failing which the students will ‘start filling up the jails.’
The incident comes just days after it was reported that the RSS had written to the Vice Chancellor seeking permission to hold shakhas (its training) on the campus.
Few AMU students were injured as UP Police bagan to lathicharge the protesting students. Among those injured are AMUSU President Maskoor Usmani, Secretary Mohammad Fahad, and Former Vice President Mazin Zaidi severely. They’ve been taken to hospital for treatment.
Local students alleged that the Superintendent of Police ‘himself snatched mobile phones and cameras of journalists and reporters’ before deleting ‘the video files of lathicharge and attack by police on students.’
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has strongly condemned the trespassing of University boundary and raising of objectionable and intimidating slogans by a group of Hindu Vahini youths today afternoon.
Its statement said, “The University expresses sympathies with the injured students and has asked the District Administration to nab the culprits and take strict action against the youths of Yuva Vahini for disturbing peace in the campus.
“The AMU Vice Chancellor, Professor Tariq Mansoor has apprised the state and central authorities about the situation on the campus and the sentiments of AMU community. The Vice Chancellor has appealed all concerned especially the students to maintain peace and calm in the hour of crisis.”
As Vice President, Ansari too was always the target of Hindutva supporters, who detested a Muslim occupy a high constitutional post in new ‘Hindu India.’
The incident came just hours after BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy shared an article titled ‘Somebody needs to teach AMU a lesson. Who will do it?’ on his official Twitter page, which has over 70 lakh followers.
