Maharashtra: Dalit students attacked at Gandhi University in the middle of the night, five injured
Wardha (IANS)| In a shocking incident, two activists of a right-wing group and some goons barged into the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (MGAHV) around midnight on Friday and attacked a Dalit PhD student and some other students who were on an indefinite strike. Five students were injured in the attack.
The attackers on 37-year-old Rajnish Kumar Ambedkar, a PhD scholar, and his classmates raised slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and tried to end the fast.
According to Chandan Saroj, who was sitting on the dharna, although there was security in the compound and the main gate was locked, some outsiders and miscreants managed to enter inside. They indulged in violence on campus in association with the right-wing student union.
Dalit researcher Ambedkar and others are on an indefinite strike against the MGAHV demanding evaluation of their PhD thesis, but the university management has not responded to the matter.
Saroj said that on the intervening night of Friday-Saturday, ‘saffron goons’ barged inside the campus, started beating up the protesters and hurled obscene and casteist abuses.
When other students tried to take photographs of the incident, they snatched their mobiles.
Some students called the Wardha police. Police reached the spot and brought the situation under control around 4 am.
Ambedkar said that at least five students suffered serious injuries in the melee and some others suffered minor injuries, while the attackers fled.
A spokesperson of MGAHV told IANS that some students had taken out a religious procession on the campus late last night and were raising slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
The spokesperson also confirmed that later, they attacked Dalit students who were holding their protest.
The situation is completely under control, he added. Meanwhile, other top officials were not available for comment despite repeated attempts.
Ambedkar said, we strongly condemn this cowardly attack by saffron group goons on Dalit researchers and scholars, who are fighting for their just demands and against the caste prejudice of the university administration.
He has demanded that the Wardha police should take cognizance of the matter and take action against the accused.
After the attacks, the university administration urged Ambedkar and others to call off their indefinite strike, but they were turned down.
