Tension prevailed in Pondicherry University after students belonging to various unions raised slogans and vehemently registered their protest against the visit of Tarun Vijay, former BJP MP, to deliver a talk organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP) in the School of Management on the campus.
Mr. Vijay arrived at the auditorium and when the function was about to begin, students belonging to Ambedkar Students Union (ASU) and the Students Federation of India (SFI) raised slogans against him for his alleged racist remarks against south Indians recently. A posse of police personnel forcibly removed the protesting students from the auditorium and closed the doors.
Mr. Vijay, escorted by the police through another entrance, delivered his talk. Tension mounted after students pushed and shoved their way into the auditorium.
Police slapped the protesting students and forcibly removed them. They detained 15 persons and took them in a police vehicle.
Meanwhile, a large number of students from various departments gathered outside the School of Management raising slogans against the university authorities and the police alleging high handedness.
High drama
At one stage, a section of students took out a procession to the administrative building and laid siege to the office of the Vice-Chancellor (officiating) Anisa Basheer Khan.They raised slogans against the authorities to seek clarification on how the management had invited the former MP who had made remarks against south Indians to deliver a talk on the campus and demanded the immediate release of the students. Ms. Khan held talks with a section of student representatives following which the protest was withdrawn.
Earlier, Mr. Vijay visited the Mahakavi Bharathiyar Memorial Museum-cum-Research Centre at Eswaran Kovil Street. He told presspersons that steps would be taken to translate all the works of Bharathi, including prose and poetry in all regional Indian languages. Efforts would be made to digitise all his letters and works in consultation with the Union Ministry for Culture, he added.
