Scores of students, teachers protested on Tuesday against the "Goondagardi (hooliganism)" on campus
Two members of the BJP-linked student organisation ABVP, who were arrested hours after the protest by the Delhi University students on Tuesday against campus violence, were suspended today for their act of "indiscipline". The two ABVP men - Prashant Mishra and Vinayak Sharma - were arrested after two students, who participated in the DU protest, said they were attacked by ABVP supporters on their way back, police said.
Two students of AISA (All India Students' Association) -- Utkarsh Bharadwaj and Raj Singh - in their police complaint have said that they were beaten up by the two accused and attempts were made to strangle them as they were returning from the protest.
"We condemn this act by the two students and advocate a violence-free atmosphere on campus. On basis of preliminary information, the two members have been suspended from the party for their act of indiscipline. An interim enquiry has been ordered to take further action," ABVP spokesperson Saket Bahuhuna said.
Over 2,000 students, teachers and non-teaching staff from various universities including JNU, Jamia and Ambedkar University had gathered at the North campus on Tuesday for the "DU Against Goondagardi (hooliganism)" protest. Besides Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, Swaraj Abhiyan's Yogendra Yadav, AAP's Pankaj Pushkar, and JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar also took part in the march.
The support also poured in for Gurmehar Kaur - the 20-year-old daughter of a soldier, who alleged rape threats over her social media campaign against the student group ABVP. She pulled out of a protest march yesterday saying, "this is all my 20 year self could take."
ABVP, however, said it was against the trolling that was being directed at Gurmehar Kaur. "We have written a letter of complaint to the police, and we urge strict and swift action against those who issued the threat," said an ABVP spokesperson.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who criticised Ms Kaur's posts and said that "anti-national" acts cannot be condoned in the name of freedom of expression, today said the girl was being used as "pawn".
"Gurmehar is young, she hasn't seen the world yet. She has the right to frame her opinions. But people are using her as a pawn. Leftists are using her points," Minister Rijiju told NDTV.