A peaceful protest organised by the BJP city unit on the premises of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) took a violent turn when three-four students affiliated with left-wing groups appeared on the scene.
Approximately 200 BJP workers and representatives gathered outside the main SPPU building to voice their objections to an offensive graffiti featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was found on the walls of a hostel late Thursday night.
Despite the presence of more than 75 police officers and security personnel, a conflict happened as three students, two of whom were female, were surrounded and subjected to physical assault amidst chants of “Modi Modi” and “Jai Shree Ram.”
Also Read:‘Gas chamber’: BJP tears into AAP as Delhi pollution level plunges to ‘severe’ category
Following the altercation, the students, identified as members of the New Socialist Alternative group, were detained and transported to the Chaturshringi Police station, The Indian Express reported.
During the course of the violence, a security guard was also assaulted by some members of the protesting party.
Before the conflict broke out, Dheeraj Ghate, the BJP Pune city president, told The Indian Express, stating, “These students of SFI and other groups who are not even enrolled in the university come to campus and brainwash students into taking the wrong path.”
An official from the university’s security office informed The Indian Express that proper permission had not been obtained from the university authorities to conduct the protest.
This incident occurred just two days after a clash between the BJP-affiliated ABVP and the CPI(M)-affiliated SFI on November 1 during the latter’s registration drive. During the confrontation, at least five students sustained injuries, and both groups lodged FIRs against one another.
On November 2, several student groups, including the Indian National Congress-affiliated NSUI, Nationalist Congress Party-affiliated Nationalist Students Congress, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, SFI, and Yuva Kranti Dal, organised a mass demonstration to protest against “tyranny of ABVP on campus.”