Banner put by the Hindu Sena outside JNU campus. (Photo courtesy: Delhi Police) Three people have been detained hours after members of the Hindu Sena put up saffron flags and banners that read ‘Bhagwa JNU (saffron JNU)’ near the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus. This comes days after violence broke out at the varsity between two groups of students – from the ABVP and Left outfits – on Sunday.
DCP (Southwest) Manoj C said, “Today (Friday) morning, it came to our notice that a few flags and banners were put up on the road and adjoining areas of JNU. Acting promptly, these were seized and a case under Section 3 of Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act 2007 was registered. During investigation, factual/scientific evidence was collected, and three persons involved in the offence were apprehended as per legal procedure. The vehicle used in commission of the offence has also been seized. Further investigation is in progress.”
On Sunday, violence had broken out on campus between Left activists and ABVP members. The former alleged there had been an attempt to stop non-vegetarian food from being cooked and served in the Kaveri hostel mess while the latter claimed there was a bid to disrupt a Ram Navami puja in the same hostel. The administration had on Monday said the “scuffle” had begun with some students objecting to the holding of ‘havan’ inside the hostel. Left outfits have said that this was untrue.
As the posters and banners came to light on Friday, Hindu Sena national president Vishnu Gupta said, “Inside the JNU campus, saffron and Hindutva are constantly being insulted. This is unfortunate and wrong. We saw this on Ram Navami too. Why do these people hate saffron? Saffron is… a symbol of our culture in the entire country, not just in JNU. Hindutva is our culture. The people of the country should not have any objection to saffron because the Supreme Court has also said that Hindu is our culture and it is our duty to safeguard it. Those who are troubled by this are anti-nationals. If someone has a problem with India’s culture, then he can leave the country.”
He added that by removing the flags, police have disrespected the Constitution: “Even police should not be in such a hurry to take down saffron flags. Saffron is not a symbol of terror that the police are showing haste. It is the right of the law to protect saffron and Hindutva.”
In a video clip, the outfit’s vice-president Surjit Yadav said: “Hindu Sena will not tolerate insults to saffron and can take any drastic step to oppose this… In JNU, saffron has been insulted by opponents… on a regular basis. Hindu Sena is warning them to mend their ways.”
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