A group of students of Gujarat Vidhyapith on Tuesday accused the police of attempting to disrupt the annual kite flying festival on campus as students were set to fly kites bearing anti-CAA messages on them.
However, the police said they had only entered the campus after receiving a message that members of the ABVP and the NSUI were likely to gather, posing the possibility of an escalation into a law and order issue at the Vidhyapith.
Some students of the university said a group of police personnel had entered the campus, located on Ashram Road, while they were preparing to celebrate the Uttarayan festival by flying kites with messages like “India Against CAA”, “No NPR, No NCR”.
According to the students, the policemen had also demanded their identity cards.
When confronted by the students, the police personnel said they had the right to enter the campus without taking anyone’s permission.
“If required, I would show my I-card to the varsity guard, but why to policemen when we are already inside the campus,” said an agitated student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They didn’t tell us who allowed them to enter the campus,” the student added.
The students’ group had organised the kite-flying event with anti-CAA messages printed on the kites to express solidarity with their counterparts in Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
“We had received a message that workers of ABVP and NSUI were gathering at Vidhyapith and that they may confront there on the issue of CAA and NRC, so I had sent a team for routine patrolling,” said P.L. Mall, DCP Zone I.
Meanwhile, thousands of kites with messages opposing the CAA flew over Ahmedabad on Tuesday as part of the protests against the CAA and NRC.
