Gujarat: ABVP 'Students' Blacken Face Of Professor & Parade Him In College, Five Arrested

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of Krantiguru Shaymji Krishna Verma Kachchh University (KSKVKU) assaulted a professor, blackened his face and paraded him in the college for an alleged discrepancy in the university electoral rolls in the Bhuj district of Kutch, Gujarat, on 26 June. Following this, classes have been suspended across the 45 colleges under the university.

According to the university’s vice-chancellor Chandrasinh Jadeja, the RSS student wing members barged inside a lecture hall where Girin Baxi, Associate Professor and Head of the Chemistry Department and a coordinator for the student elections, was taking a class. Dragging him out of the hall, they threw a ‘black substance’ on his face and paraded him to the chamber of university registrar. They then ‘gherao’-ed the Vice-chancellor’s office for nearly an hour, reported The Indian Express.

The Senate election in the University is scheduled to be held on July 22. Senate is the highest student body in Gujarat varsities. Some members are elected while some are also nominated. The V-C said that he deputed eight people to scrutinise voters’ list and application forms to resolve the issue immediately. Bhuj police arrested five persons, including two ABVP office-bearers

What happened?

“They claimed that voter registration forms submitted by ABVP supporters were selectively rejected by Prof Baxi. However, prima facie, their claim was found to baseless as all the forms were rejected as per the rules. Nonetheless, we had scheduled a hearing on the issue at 4.30 pm on Tuesday. But the ABVP supporters became aggressive and attacked Prof Baxi,” the vice-chancellor told The Indian Express.

Inspector Vikram Kothiya confirmed that all the people who assaulted the professor were members of ABVP. He said that the angry and agitated students entered the classroom where Prof. Baxi was delivering a lecture. They asked him why some of the forms were rejected and he asked them to wait outside and a meeting was to be held in the evening regarding the same.

The ABVP goons dragged him out of the room and threw the ‘chemical’ on his face. “They then paraded him to the chamber of university registrar. They also threatened the registrar that he too would face the same fate if their demands were not met,” Kothiya further added. The police also said that Baxi complained of severe skin irritation.

“We have filed a police complaint in this regard. We also convened an urgent meeting of the executive council of the university which condemned the action of the ABVP supporters. The teaching staff of the university has also unanimously condemned the incident,” the vice-chancellor said.

He further added that there were enough security measures available in the place too, but the security guards are lenient with students. This incident took everyone by surprise.

Bhuj B Division police have booked a group of around 15 to 20 persons under IPC sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) as well as under sections related to criminal intimidation and rioting.

The Logical Indian Take

Student elections have been the training grounds of many eminent political heavyweights. However, a university is first and foremost, a place of learning. If these RSS-ABVP goons have no respect, no culture and no shame, if they can humiliate and threaten their teachers with such disdain, just the thought of one of them leading our country in the future is enough to send a shudder down the spine.

The Logical Indian urges the university authorities to take the strictest possible action against these miscreants so that these incidents do not happen in the future.