Aligarh: As the 48-hour deadline to take down Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait approaches, a right-wing outfit gears up to bring in nearly 1,000 students to remove the picture of "the man who divided India", even as police and RAF personnel are deployed at the university. On the other hand, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has out-rightly said that "we cannot give respect to Jinnah".
“Who is he (Jinnah)? He was the proponent of the two nation theory. He was the one who divided India. It has to be made clear that those who want the portrait of Jinnah, will have to go to Pakistan. We won’t allow him to be revered in India," Amit Goswami, a right-wing student leader told News18
Hours after Goswami live streamed his plan to bring down Jinnah's portrait, he was summoned by Aligarh SSP on Thursday. However, right-wing outfit Hinduvadi Chhatra Sangh is now planning to mobilise nearly 1,000 students to further press for their demand.
"People have tried to reason with us that the Jinnah's portrait has been up since 1938 after he became the lifetime member of the AMU Students Union. But he propounded two nation theory. We had no clue that his portrait is still on the walls of AMU. Nobody was aware that AMU was secretly guarding this portrait. It was only after MP Satish Gautam's letter to the VC Tariq Mansoor that this matter came to light," Goswami said.
In order to curb rumours in the wake of the controversy, district magistrate has ordered to suspend internet services in Aligarh from 2 pm to midnight on Friday.
Violence broke out at the university on Wednesday after some protesters belonging to Hindu Yuva Vahini and other right-wing outfits tried to barge into the varsity premises demanding removal of a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah displayed on the campus.
Wednesday’s violence prompted a massive security deployment in the area on Thursday as policemen in large numbers and a RAF contingent were deployed near the Baab-e-Syed gate to maintain law and order.
While the rest of the injured students were discharged after first aid, three of those with serious injuries were admitted at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College hospital.
Reacting on the issue, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, “I have asked for a report (on the matter). AMU is a central university. We will take action once we have the report. We cannot give respect to Jinnah."
Supporting Hinduvadi Sangh’s stand on the issue, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s regional convenor Nikhil Maheshwari said, “Why don’t AMU authorities get Mahatma Gandhi's pictures adorned on the walls of educational institutions in Pakistan? But, at least in India, Jinnah’s portrait has to go down."
On the other hand, Aligarh Muslim University Teachers Association held a general body meeting and decided to hold Black Day on Thursday against the "malicious campaign of Hindu leaders".
The teachers and students will be protesting and taking out a march from AMU's Bab-e-Syed Gate to the Collectorate.
While administration of the university is silent on the issue, the teachers body demanded a time bound high-level judicial inquiry. Miffed by the "malicious campaign of right wing outfits", AMU Teachers Association secretary Najmul Islam said, "The day the right wing leaders barged inside the campus, the former Vice President was to be honoured with lifetime membership of the Students Union. The matter was of great importance to the university, but there were attacks on the students."
Islam further said, “The former VPs guards were threatened. The police administration could not control the perpetrators as there was lapse in security. It just emboldened the right wingers in pursuing their nefarious activities."
The university students and teachers demand punishment of policemen who did not perform their duty of controlling the violence that lead to attack on some students.
The teachers have formed a Joint Action Committee and appealed to students to maintain calm in this time. "We will take the matter to the logical end. Keep calm," appealed the resolution of the teachers body.
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