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ShareMumbai: Activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena, the student wing of MNS, vandalised the office of Mumbai University's registrar in Fort on Tuesday. They were protesting against a varsity circular making Marathi optional for FY Arts students who migrated to Maharashtra.
Azad Maidan police arrested six MNVS activists, including president Aditya Shirodkar. Deputy commissioner of police Vishwas Nangre-Patil said they were booked for damaging public property.
Chief minister Ashok Chavan said such vandalism would not be tolerated. "We will punish those who indulge in such acts," he said.
Natasha Menon, an economics student, was furious. "Students today need as many options as possible to study. They will be more than happy to have such an option with the languages. They genuinely want to study. Have the people who vandalised the university bothered to check what students want?"
Menon said the attacks would instil fear in students. Students aren't "interested in such political gimmicks". "These people only try to create disharmony to gain political mileage," she said.
A university official justified the circular, saying it would help students who didn't opt for a regional language in standard XII. "The decision to make regional language optional was taken in the meeting of the board of studies, where the faculty of arts was also present. It is not an individual opinion," he said.
Pro vice-chancellor AD Sawant said, "We will have to look into the matter and find out whose mistake it was. The police have taken action; the university will decide its course of action soon after analysing the situation."
The political implications the circular were brought to the university administration's notice by Shiv Sena senate members. MNS, however, hijacked the issue from
the Sena.
