By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
Students of the Aligarh Muslim University have given an ultimatum of 24 hours to the Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor after the administration invited BJP members for Sir Syed’s 200th bicentenary celebrations in the campus. The students have alleged that they were kept in the dark over the invitations extended to BJP Aligarh District President Devraj Singh and Sandeep Kumar Singh, a MoS in UP government and the MLA from Athrauli. Sandeep is the son of Etah MP Rajveer Singh and the grandson of Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.
In a letter written to the Vice Chancellor, the students also asked the University administration to clarify if the BJP members were invited because of pressure from the state government. “Please state if the administration received a Fax from the government (via the Proctor) to invite them (BJP MLAs) and please make the Fax public if that is the case,” the letter says. The students added that failing to explain or apologise, the administration will have to face the wrath of the government.
“Inviting people who promote and capitalise on communal politics to remember a person like Sir Syed is an insult to his memory and for the students of AMU. We have always stood against people and parties that seek to divide our society and this is no different. We have always prevented BJP members from entering the campus, this was clearly an attempt by the party to infiltrate the campus. They just came, sat and observed…did not even speak. What were they doing here?” asked Faisal Nadeem, a student of AMU while speaking to TwoCircles.net.
The other reason why the AMU students are angry at the invitation extended to the BJP is that just a couple of days ago when DU students had tried to organise a talk on Sir Syed’s Bicentenary celebrations, it was interrupted by members of the ABVP. Members of the ABVP called Sir Syed an anti-national and that he supported the two-nation theory. “At a time when we are remembering the great service that Sir Syed did to this nation, ABVP wants to drag his name also into the mud…as students of AMU, we will not let this happen,” Nadeem added.
What has irked the students of AMU the most is that the invite to BJP leaders comes at a time when the Sangh Parivar is on a mission to defame his legacy. A day after the BJP leaders came to the campus, the Hindu Mahasabha Unit of Aligarh also organised a programme on Sir Syed and used the platform to defame him and call him an anti-national. Protesting students alleged that the AMU administration had allowed itself to be used for BJP’s benefits. “We are against everyone that indulges in communal politics…we opposed Mulayam Singh Yadav also after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and this is no different. On one hand, their leaders come to ‘celebrate’ Sir Syed while their Parivar members defame him as and when they want,” said another student who refused to be named. He added that unless the University responds to their agitation, they will have to face the consequences of the protests.
Clarifying its stand on the issue, a message issued by the Aligarh Muslim University News, the official page of Public Relations Office of the AMU administration said, “A Minister was nominated by UP state government to be ‘Minister in waiting’ for visiting former President of India as part of protocol. The University was intimated by the district administration regarding the same. This standard protocol was followed at the SS Day function.”