A dispute, allegedly over the serving of non-vegetarian food, at South Asian University in Delhi on Thursday during Maha Shivratri led to a physical altercation between student groups.
The clash allegedly involved members of the Left-backed Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Sangh parivar’s student wing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), with each accusing the other of instigating the violence.
“ABVP viciously attacked the students of South Asian University in the university mess because they were not complying with ABVP's draconian and undemocratic demand that no non-veg should be served in the university mess owing to Maha Shivratri,” an SFI statement claimed.
“The goons grabbed the hair of women students and dragged them violently during the attack. They also attacked the mess staff for serving non-veg food.”
The ABVP posted on X: “Shocking! On Mahashivratri, SFI goons at SAU forcibly tried to break students’ fast by forcing non-veg on them, abusing, and assaulting them! Religious freedom is a constitutional right! Why is it under attack on campus? Will the so-called secular brigade stay silent now?”
BJP national spokesperson Sanju Verma slammed the SFI.
“These Leftist SFI goons are truly despicable..Have you seen the usual red bindi, Lal Salam brigade condemning the nasty thuggery by SFI thugs? Not a pipsqueak from Left cabal which has been otherwise quick to condemn just about anything under the Sun, since Modi became PM in 2014,” Verma wrote on X.
Prerna Bhardwaj, national convener of the ABVP (social media), posted:“This is an attack on our Faith! Is this the ‘tolerance’ they preach? Why the silence from so-called liberals when religious freedom is trampled? This ideological terrorism must be stopped!"
A police officer was reported in a number of publications as saying that a call regarding a quarrel was received at Maidangarhi Police Station from the university around 3.45pm.
The university authorities reportedly said that there was a conflict and the matter is being investigated.
