ABVP accuses Left-backed affiliates of 'vandalism' at JNU

New Delhi, February 20

Members of the BJP’s students’ wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), on Monday accused students of Left-backed affiliates of being behind the desecration of a portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his birth anniversary, at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday.

It had earlier accused the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) of orchestrating the vandalism at the office of the JNU students’ body.

The ABVP also put forward the demand of naming the JNUSU office after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Speaking to ANI on Monday, Kumar Ashutosh, social media convenor, ABVP, at JNU, said, “We had installed a portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the JNUSU office. However, members of Left-backed students’ unions removed the portrait and threw the garland around it into the bin, resulting in a scuffle (with ABVP members). Five to six members were injured in the clash.”

“We demand that the JNU administration and Delhi Police take strict action against them. We also want the JNUSU office to be named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” the ABVP member said.

He added, “It seems the only job of the Left-backed student activists is to push a narrative against stalwarts and warriors who built India and fought for it. This is a well-thought-out conspiracy of the Left.”

“They raised slogans against India on the JNU campus in 2016 and are indulging in similar mischiefs again. We at the ABVP will always rise against such conspiracies to run down India or sully the country’s image,” Ashutosh said.

On whether they have reported the alleged vandalism to the police, Ashutosh said, “A police team arrived on the campus after receiving our complaint. We will soon file a written complaint.”