Several student activists were injured after a fight broke out between a left-affiliated student group and RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) near Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute on the Delhi University campus on Thursday, December 1.
The incident took place during a protest staged by Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM) demanding the release of Professor GN Saibaba, as stated in a report by PTI. The group in a statement claimed that their members were attacked during a peaceful protest in Delhi University’s North Campus. Around six members of the BSCEM and a few members of ABVP were allegedly injured in the attack. "Since this morning, we had been campaigning in the North Campus of Delhi University for GN Saibaba. In the evening around 4 pm near Patel Chest, ABVP attacked all the students in which several members of BSCEM have suffered injuries," the group said in the statement, reported PTI.
ABVP said it has filed a complaint at Maurice Nagar Police Station. There was no immediate reaction from the police to the incident. Members of BSCEM also claimed that when they went to get treatment at Hindu Rao Hospital, ABVP members surrounded them. "They did not allow the treatment of the injured and created ruckus in the hospital," BSCEM added, as per PTI.
Meanwhile, ABVP alleged that the group misbehaved with a woman ABVP activist and started a fight with its activists. "Some outsider leftist anti-social elements made indecent and obscene comments on ABVP student activists who study in DU… They also attacked us with sticks and rods, injuring two ABVP workers," the ABVP said in a statement. They also alleged that when the members of the group came to the rescue of the woman, people from BSCEM used casteist and gender-discriminatory slurs for them.
Who is Professor GN Saibaba?
Professor GN Saibaba was convicted in 2017 for Maoist links and indulging in activities amounting to waging war against the country. The Supreme Court on October 15 suspended the October 14 Bombay High Court order discharging the former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Several student-led organisations including the All India Students' Association (AISA) have been organising protests demanding the release of the professor.
