ABVP leader N Susheel Kumar mistook Amol Singh for a Kashmiri.
Days after two groups of students clashed on the campus of Hyderabad University following a meeting on "Kashmir situation", ABVP leader N Susheel Kumar and others have been booked for allegedly assaulting an M Phil student. The M Phil student, Amol Singh, claimed that the attackers mistook him for a Kashmiri.
Police also booked Singh after Kumar, accused of abetting the suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula on the campus in January, alleged in his cross complaint that Singh had attacked them. Gachibowli police have booked Kumar and 30 others under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC after Singh alleged that some ABVP students "brutally" attacked him on Saturday evening, a senior police officer said on Monday.
Similarly, based on a complaint lodged by Kumar, a counter case has been registered against Singh with Miyapur Police under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and other relevant sections of IPC, he said, adding that both the cases are under investigation. On July 16 evening, a scuffle had broken out between two groups of students after a meeting was conducted to "condemn" the police action against protesters in Jammu and Kashmir, at the shopping complex on the varsity campus.
In his complaint, Singh alleged that Kumar and others rained punches and kicks on him on the campus after mistaking him for a Kashmiri student while he was returning after attending the meeting. Singh had claimed that he was attacked again near a hospital. In a counter complaint, Kumar accused Singh and his friends of assaulting him and other ABVP members. Kumar alleged that the group of students raised separatists slogans after the meeting on "Kashmir issue" following which they objected to it.
"The university has received complaints from students groups and (that) laid down procedures will be followed in dealing with the same," University Pro Vice-Chancellor 1 and official spokesperson Professor Vipin Srivastava said. Meanwhile, in a related development, the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice (UoH), which is spearheading the protests over Vemula's death, condemned the "assault" on Singh on Monday. "In this incident, the nexus of ABVP with (Vice Chancellor) Appa Rao Podile-led HCU administration is clearly visible. N Susheel Kumar and Podile Appa Rao are amongst the prime accused in the SC&ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and abetment to suicide of Rohith Vemula and harassment of four other dalit research scholars," the JAC stated in a release.
According to JAC, a group of students had conducted a "public discussion on the current situation in Kashmir on July 16 evening and the ABVP cadres took out a bike rally in the middle of the night as a reaction to that programme." "They mistook Amol (Singh) for a Kashmiri student and thrashed him while shouting anti-Muslim slurs and abuses. Susheel Kumar was one of the leaders of this ABVP gang," the JAC alleged.
UoH, also known as HCU, has been witnessing sporadic protests since Vemula's death with a section of students demanding dismissal of Vice-Chancellor Podile who is amongst those booked for abeting the dalit scholar's suicide. "Kumar, who has been accused of abetting suicide of dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, is once again on a spree of attacking students on campus and this has been made possible because he and his brother with others enjoy impunity because of the BJP and RSS support.
"The University administration and Podile Appa Rao are part of the same nexus. This incident again exposes the BJP/RSS nexus that operates in the University. The fact that action has not yet been taken upon Podile Appa Rao, is responsible for facilitation of such violence," the JAC alleged.
It stated that the struggle put up by students seeking justice for Vemula has been going on even after six months despite "constant harassment from university." "Podile Apparao and University administration, along with ABVP students, are deliberately creating controversies to divert the attention from Rohith Vemula issue and to victimise students.
"This step towards providing social justice to Rohith will also ensure that the University remains a democratic space where people can debate and discuss freely without the threat of any violence," JAC added.
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