NSUI rebuts ABVP’s allegation, says portrait of Shivaji was kept without permission

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has accused the National Student’s Union of India (NSUI) of vandalising a painting of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Ganpat Chaudhary, JNU NSUI General Secretary, stated that ABVP members kept the portrait at the JNUSU office without permission, after which other students removed it.

Talking to the media, he said, “ABVP members kept Shivaji’s portrait at the JNU Students Union Office, for which permission was needed from JNUSU delegation. Despite that, they did it illegally. Other students came there and removed all portraits for the screening programme due to which fight broke out between two groups.”

Previously, the ABVP accused Left-wing workers of vandalising Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s image at JNU on his birth anniversary. ABVP activists also protested, accusing Left-wing workers of ‘insulting’ Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

On Sunday, ABVP members claimed that a gang of left-wing employees vandalised Shivaji Maharaj’s portrait on the walls of the students activity centre.

Umesh Chandra Ajmera, Secretary of the ABVP at JNU, stated, “Today is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s birth anniversary. As an homage, we hung a painting of Shivaji Maharaj on the walls outside the student activity centre.”

“But the ‘communists’ of JNU couldn’t digest this. People from ‘100 Flowers Group’ and SFI came and vandalised the portrait of Shivaji Maharaj,” Ajmera alleged while speaking to ANI. He further claimed that those involved in the incident were “illegal labourers” (outsiders) who had illegally entered the college grounds.

“When we asked to stop, they said, “We will do this, we don’t believe in them, we only believe in Marxist and Leninist ideology”,” said Ajmera while adding that neither they were able to show their ID cards, nor were they going out. The Secretary of the ABVP urged the JNU administration to take stern action against the culprits and prevent miscreants from disrupting the university atmosphere.

“We request the JNU administration to take strict action against the accused. We also urge the administration to stop illegal students from entering the campus and creating a nuisance. These people should be stopped from bringing a bad name to the university,” Ajmera added.