AMU Jinnah portrait row: Magisterial probe blames police, intelligence

AGRA: A magisterial probe into the violence at Aligarh Muslim University on May 2 last year over the removal of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait from AMU Students’ Union hall has revealed lapses on the part of the police and local intelligence unit. The report has also given a clean chit to right wing Hindu organisations, which were accused of planning an attack on former vice-president Hamid Ansari on the campus.

Additional district magistrate, finance, Uday Singh -- who conducted a detailed inquiry into the clash between students and police that led to injuries to about 24 people -- had submitted his report to the home department last month.

Confirming the move, Aligarh district magistrate CB Singh said further action would be taken by the home department. The DM said that, in the 22-page report, the ADM has indicated lapses on the part of then incharge of civil lines police station, who could not stop the second attempt by Hindu activists trying to force their way inside the campus. The report also blames the local intelligence unit for not assessing the gravity of the incident that led to the violence.

The report, however, states no evidence was found while probing the allegations that activists of Hindu Jagran Manch, Hindu Yuva Vahini and other right-wing outfits had planned to attack former vice-president of India, Hamid Ansari, who was at the AMU guesthouse near the Baba-e-Syed gate, where the violence started.

The Jinnah portrait issue flared up on April 30 last year when a BJP member of parliament (MP) from Aligarh, Satish Gautam, in a letter to the Aligarh Muslim University vice-chairman, asked to explain the presence of a portrait of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the AMU Students Union (AMUSU) office.

Soon after the letter was sent, members of right wing organisations issued a 48-hour ultimatum to AMUSU to remove the portrait of Jinnah from the campus. Two days later on May 2, activists of various right-wing organizations clashed with the university’s students while attempting to force their way into the campus to remove the portrait.

Police later resorted to firing teargas shells to disperse the students who were demanding the arrest of protesters who made an attempt to enter the university. A function to grant life membership of the student union to former vice-president Hamid Ansari, which was scheduled for the day, was also called off and he had to return to Delhi.