Stalin condemns attack on Tamil students at JNU, demands action against culprits

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 20 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday condemned the attack on Tamil students allegedly by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members and requested the Vice Chancellor to initiate action against the culprits and protect students from Tamil Nadu.
In a series of tweets, he said universities are not just spaces for learning but also for discussion, debate and dissent.
"The cowardly attack on Tamil students by ABVP and vandalising the portraits of leaders like Periyar, Karl Marx at #JNU, is highly condemnable and calls for a strict action from the Univ Admin," tweeted Stalin.
He alleged that the security personnel of JNU and Delhi Police turned mute spectators to the violence unleashed on students.
"Highly condemnable and calls for strict action from the university administration. The securities of JNU and Delhi Police have time and again turned mute spectators to the violence unleashed on students who fight for their rights and are critical of the Union BJP regime," he Tweeted.
Earlier in the day, members of the BJP's students' wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), on Monday accused students of Left-backed affiliates of also being behind the desecration of a portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his birth anniversary, at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday.
It had earlier accused the Congress-backed National Student's Union of India (NSUI) of orchestrating the vandalism at the office of the JNU students' body.
The ABVP also put forward the demand of naming the JNUSU office after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Speaking to ANI on Monday, Kumar Ashutosh, social media convenor, ABVP at JNU, said, "We had installed a portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the JNUSU office. However, members of Left-backed students' unions removed the portrait and threw the garland around it into a dustbin, resulting in a scuffle (with ABVP members). As many as 5-6 members were also injured in the clash."
"We demand that the JNU administration and Delhi Police take strict action against them. We also want the JNUSU office to be named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj," the ABVP member said.
He added, "It seems the only job of the Left-backed student activists is to push a narrative against stalwarts and warriors who built India and fought for it. This is a well-thought-out conspiracy of the Left."
The ABVP Secretary urged the JNU administration to take strict action against the accused and stop such attempts to destroy the ambience on campus.
"We request the JNU administration to take strict action against the accused and stop outsiders from entering the campus and creating a nuisance. These people should be stopped from giving the university a bad name," Ajmera added. (ANI)