New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS): In the aftermath of violent protests sparked by rumours on the Lovely Professional University campus, founder, chancellor and BJP MP Ashok Mittal said on Thursday that it could be a larger conspiracy to harm Punjab and its overall security.
"A false rumour spread in Punjab through a social media platform that a girl had been raped and had committed suicide, along with other such claims. What was the conspiracy behind it, how were the students instigated, and how did outside elements subsequently enter the situation and damage the entire university? This happened at a university in Patiala. It shows that there could be a very big conspiracy," Mittal said.
"A day earlier, something happened at Chitkara University on Friday-Saturday night, and then it happened at LPU on Saturday-Sunday night. So, it is clear that there is a similar pattern and the same Reddit platform was used. The same medium was used at both places, and similar things were said. There too, it was said that two girls had committed suicide and all such things,” he said.
“I think there is a big conspiracy in all of this. The question that arises is whether the conspiracy was formed outside Punjab or inside Punjab. It has to be investigated,” he said.
“There was a significant amount of damage done to the LPU; the university had to face significant losses: the vandalism, hooliganism and theft that occurred within the university. My students and staff were harmed. But my concern is bigger than that, he added.
“I am afraid that what happened may not be against LPU alone, and may not be against Ashok Mittal alone. This conspiracy may be against my Punjab. This is a conspiracy to disturb and destabilise my Punjab,” he said.
“We know that Punjab is a border state and shares its boundary lines with Pakistan. Pakistan continues to disrupt peace within our nation in some way or another,” he added.
Mittal said the incident at LPU has become a matter of Punjab’s security, and that LPU was only a small part of it. “It is a matter of security of the three crore people living in Punjab,” he said.
"Punjab is reeling with addiction, gangsters, stealing, kidnapping of young kids, and add to that these kinds of incidents. It shows that there was a bigger conspiracy going on. It is important to curb that conspiracy,” he stressed.
"Another thing that comes to the fore is that businessmen in Punjab are feeling very unsafe. They feel that just as a university has its own security system and a control mechanism, my university also has a very strong control mechanism. If a child has to enter, there is a face reader, and only after that can the child enter. If a vehicle has to enter, there are boom barriers, and entry takes place through an automatic system,” he said.
He asked whether the situation could deteriorate even with such strict security, and what about places where there is none.
“All these systems, security and everything are in place. Despite all this, if such an incident happened there, then how safe are we? This is a question in the heart of every Punjabi today, and in the heart of every person in business today. On one hand, gangsters are troubling us, and these problems are also affecting us,“ he said.
Earlier, Mittal had said that the violence in the university was an attack against Punjab's economy, attempting to hurt Punjab's economic growth. “When outside students enrol here, it boosts the state's revenue. This is an attempt to dismantle that economic contribution to Punjab,” he added.
According to reports, violence broke out at LPU campus in Punjab's Kapurthala district after rumours spread among students via Reddit that a girl had been raped.
The rumours triggered protests that later escalated into vandalism, arson, and property damage, while a stretch of the Jalandhar-Phagwara highway was blocked.
When asked to provide details, including the identity of the alleged victim, the location of the incident, or any formal written complaint, they couldn’t provide any information. As of late, "Outsiders" and "anti-social elements" are being blamed for the violent protests and vandalism at the university.
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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
