Two student protesters held, freed on bail
LUCKNOW: Protest by students during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convocation address at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) here on Friday was the fallout of negligence by the varsity’s officials, police said.
SSP Rajesh Pandey said that protest during the PM’s visit was already apprehended and the BBAU officials were asked to be careful while allowing people inside the convocation venue.
The SSP blamed the negligence of university administration for the protest, as the two protesters, who shouted slogans against the Prime Minister, had valid convocation passes. “The two students were involved in similar activities even in the past. Yet the university administration allowed them to attend the function.”
Pandey said that the security personnel present at the convocation, however, acted swiftly and took the protesters out of the venue immediately.
The two protesters were identified as Kaushambi resident Ram Karan and Sant Kabirnagar resident Amrendra Arya, both LLM students.
The SSP said that the duo was arrested after registering an FIR of causing nuisance during the convocation. They were detained for a few hours at Ashiana police station and released later after making them fill personal bail bonds.
A group of students, mostly Dalits, also protested outside the Ashiana police station demanding the release of the arrested students. The protesters claimed that the BBAU administration was doing atrocities against SC and ST students.
The protest was led by Mahesh Prasad Ahirwar, general secretary, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Teachers Welfare Society and Bela Turkey Kaushal, a BBAU research scholar.
Kaushal has been leading a protest against the BBAU officials for the last several months, alleging them of not clearing her fellowship bills to the tune of Rs 6 lakh for the last three years. She has also written a letter about the matter to Union minister of human resource development (HRD) Smriti Irani.
Kaushal alleged that the BBAU administration was holding a grudge against her as she had gone against a teacher of the university and stood by a student who was being harassed by him.