The students of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) held protests outside the residence of Vice-Chancellor Professor Sudhir Jain who had attended the Iftar Party on the campus of the Women’s College of the University. They demanded an apology from the VC as they held banners and raised slogans against the Islamisation of the Banaras Hindu University.
According to the reports, the students gathered outside the residence of the VC on the evening of April 29 and raised their united voices against the anti-Hindu slogans on the walls of the University. “BHU ka Islamikaran karne walo par karvai kab (When will the case be registered against people responsible for Islamisation of the University)”, the banners in the hands of the protesting students roughly read.
Some of them even tonsured their head in protest and sprinkled holy Gangajal outside the residence of VC to purify his place. This came a couple of days after the students took out a protest rally carrying a symbolic effigy of the Vice-Chancellor and burnt it after reaching his residence. The controversy began on April 26 when an Iftar party was organized on the campus of Women’s College and the VC, Rector Professor VK Shukla, and fasting male and female professors joined the students to open their fast.
Apart from the VC and Rector, Dr. Afzal Hussain, Professor Neelam Atri, Acting Principal Professor Rita Singh, Student Dean Professor KK Singh, Chief Proctor Professor BC Kapri, and Dr. Divya Kushwaha also attended the party. The protesting students had then condemned the incident and said that the VC and the professors were ignoring the interests of the Hindu students and the traditions of the Banaras Hindu University. “Organising such Iftar Party at the campus is condemnable,” the students had said and termed the whole program as an initiative to appease Muslims.
Reportedly, the entire discussion regarding the organization of the party was moderated by Dr. Mohammad Afzal Hussain, one of the professors at BHU. After the Iftar Party, anti-Hindu graffiti was also seen on the walls of the campus at various places. Anti-Hindu slogans like “Kashmir to bas jhanki hai, poora Bharat baaki hai” (Kashmir is only the beginning, whole India is still there) and “Brahman Teri kabr khudegi BHU ki dharti par” (Graves of the Brahmins will be dug at BHU campus) were written on the walls.
The students on April 29 also protested against the anti-Hindu slogans and demanded strict action against those persons who wrote them on the walls of BHU. They further stated that no such Iftar Party had been organized in BHU before and that the Women’s College was deliberately chosen for the party so that the students could not go inside and protest.
