Don't play politics at an educational institution, AMU VC writes to Smriti Irani against BJP's proposed event

Aligarh: BJP’s plan to organise Jat King Raja Mahendra Pratap birth anniversary on Monday inside the Aligarh Muslim University campus sparked a controversy as the University Vice-Chancellor wrote a letter to Education Minister Smriti Irani warning of a potential "communal conflagration" in the campus.

In the letter, Zameer Uddin Shah mentioned that the university is against any political event inside the university campus and it may led to massive student unrest on the AMU campus.

"AMU does not want to get involved in politics and the University needs your earnest support urgently as there is a serious threat to law and order," wrote the Vice Chancellor.

Meanwhile, local BJP leaders refuted VC’s claims and have announced that they will go ahead with the ceremony.

"On the 1st, we will celebrate his (Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh's) birthday. If the Vice Chancellor wants to celebrate in AMU, I welcome it. If that's not the case, then the BJP has decided that we will celebrate the birthday within AMU, no doubt about it," said Satish Gautam, the BJP parliamentarian from Aligarh.

Mr Shah also alleged that while the university had asked the BJP to shift its celebrations to a patch of land donated by the legendary freedom fighter near the campus, the party's activists had insisted on a venue within the campus, which, he said, would lead to a "confrontation".

Commenting on the issue, Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tiwari said that, AMU is a central university and its decision must be respected.