NSUI rebuts ABVP\'s allegation, says Shivaji\'s portrait was kept without permission

New Delhi: The National Student's Union of India (NSUI) has rebutted the allegation levelled by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) regarding vandalising the portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

JNU NSUI General Secretary Ganpat Chaudhary said that ABVP members kept the portrait at the JNUSU office without permission, after which other students removed it.

Talking to the media, he said, "ABVP members kept Shivaji's portrait at the JNU Students Union Office, for which permission was needed from JNUSU delegation. Despite that, they did it illegally. Other students came there and removed all portraits for the screening programme due to which fight broke out between two groups."

Earlier, the ABVP had accused the Left-wing workers of vandalising the portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his birth anniversary at JNU.
ABVP activists also staged a protest while accusing the Left-wing workers of 'insulting' Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Shivaji Maharaj's portrait was placed on the walls of the students activity centre on Sunday, and ABVP members alleged that the vandalism was carried out by a group of left-wing workers.

ABVP JNU Secretary Umesh Chandra Ajmera said, "Today is the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We had put up a portrait of Shivaji Maharaj on the walls outside the student activity centre as tribute."

"But the 'communists' of JNU couldn't digest this. People from '100 Flowers Group' and SFI came and vandalised the portrait of Shivaji Maharaj," Ajmera alleged while speaking to ANI.

He further alleged that those involved in the incident were "illegal workers" (outsiders) and had entered the college premises without permission.

"When we asked to stop, they said, "We will do this, we don't believe in them, we only believe in Marxist and Leninist ideology"," said Ajmera while adding that neither they were able to show their ID cards, nor were they going out.

The ABVP Secretary urged the JNU administration to take strict action against the accused and stop the miscreants from disrupting the university atmosphere.

"We request the JNU administration to take strict action against the accused. We also urge the administration to stop illegal students from entering the campus and creating a nuisance. These people should be stopped from bringing a bad name to the university," Ajmera added.