The event at Fergusson College was organised by JNU student leaders of the ABVP, which is affiliated to the BJP. (File photo)
Police today said that "anti-national" slogans were not raised at Pune's Fergusson College campus on Tuesday after the ABVP members and a group of Left and Dalit students got into a heated argument during an informal event on 'Truth of JNU'.
The college principal RG Pardeshi had written a letter to police stating that "anti-national" slogans were raised at the event, organised by ABVP, but he later withdrew it saying the reference to such kind of sloganeering in it was a "typographical error".
"When the slogans were being shouted, our police personnel were present and according to their investigation, a total of 29 slogans were raised," a police official said.
"Out of those, 14 slogans were raised by a group of students who belong to Ambedkarite Ideology Movement and 15 slogans were raised by ABVP members. None of the slogans was of anti-national in nature," the official added.
Mr Pardeshi yesterday expressed "regret" over the letter which had caused a flutter with the reference to the sloganeering during the event in presence of JNU ABVP leader Alok Singh.
In the wake of the letter, several Dalit organisations accused Mr Pardeshi of "branding" students including Sujat Ambedkar, great-grandson of BR Ambedkar and son of former MP Prakash Ambedkar, as "anti-nationals".
On March 23, NCP lawmaker Jitendra Awhad was allegedly manhandled by a group of workers belonging to Bhartiya Janata Yuwa Morcha and some right-wing organisations in the college campus.