In connection with the AMU-Jinnah row, former vice-president Hamid Ansari on Saturday raised questions over the violence created by the right-wing activists just before the event. Former AMU VC Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah also said that “it was an attempt to denigrate the leading Muslim figure of India (Hamid Ansari)”.
“The disruption, its precise timing, and the excuse manufactured for justifying it raises questions,” Ansari said in a letter. The former Vice-President gave his reaction on the course of events for the first time.
On May 2, the AMU Student’s Union and its office bearers had planned an event to confer an Honorary Life Membership on Ansari. However, the event was called off after violence broke out after right-wing activists barged into the campus and sought removal of the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah from the students’ union office. Police had to use teargas shells to contain the agitating students, who were demanding the arrest of activists from the Hindu Yuva Vahini. Around 28 students were injured after police resorted to lathi-charge.
“The access of the intruders to close proximity of the University Guest House where I was staying remains unexplained,” Ansari wrote.
Commending the AMU students for peaceful protests, the former vice-president asserted that the students “must ensure that it does not in any way interfere with their academic pursuits”.
Ansari said that the AMU students’ request for action against the intruders and disruptors after a judicial enquiry is justified. The AMU authorities have also made a similar request.
Agreeing with Ansari, Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah ( Veteran and former Vice-Chancellor AMU) said, “This is not an issue concerning Jinnah’s Portrait. It was an attempt to denigrate the leading Muslim figure of India (Hamid Ansari) and create a controversy to bring a bad name to the leading university of the country, something which is not palatable to some sections of sectarian and narrow-minded people.”
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