BHU crackdown: ABVP blames vice chancellor, varsity administration for campus row

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) – students’ wing of the BJP – has accused BHU vice chancellor Prof Girish Chandra Tripathi and the university administration of mishandling the sexual harassment case that led to protests and violence on the campus.

ABVP has also written to the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) demanding action against the officials who did not take the sexual harassment case on the campus seriously.

“Had the BHU VC and the then chief proctor Prof ON Singh handled the girl’s complaint seriously, violence and cane-charging on students would not have taken place on the campus,” said Ghanshyam Shahi, secretary of ABVP’s Kashi region.

He said Prof Tripathi ignored the demand of the students and did not hold a dialogue with them to defuse the situation. “He didn’t take the pains to call on the girls who wanted to share their problems with him,” Shahi said.

“ABVP had submitted a memorandum to the VC on March 4, drawing his attention towards growing anger among the girls over the lack of dialogue with the university administration,” he added.

“We again submitted a memorandum to BHU authorities on September 8, asking them to hold regular dialogue with girls and address their problems. However, our suggestions were not taken seriously,” he said.

“When the molestation victim lodged a complaint with the proctorial board’s security personnel, she was asked weird questions like why she was roaming at 6pm,” Shahi said.

State unit secretary of ABVP Bhupendra Singh also raised the issue with the university authorities but no action was taken.

The ABVP also blamed the Left wing for creating a rift among the girls who staged demonstration demanding action in the case of sexual harassment. It also criticised the outsiders who tried to hijack the protest.

Shahi said the ABVP would not let Left wing create a rift among the students and would expose the people who instigated violence on the campus.