A few students of Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday alleged that they were not allowed to perform a prayer ceremony in the hostel last week due to “politically motivated” reasons.
The student group has written to university Vice Chancellor alleging that the Jhelum hostel warden had on last Saturday, asked a congregation to disperse from one of the rooms where they were performing a havan.
However, the charge has been denied by the hostel warden.
Jitendra, an MPhil student in Sanskrit Studies, said, “I had organised a prayer ceremony on the occasion of my birthday. We were a group of 15-20 students. We were performing havan and chanting mantras but had to halt the prayer midway after the intervention of the warden.”
While they alleged that the warden’s move was politically motivated, the warden claimed that it was the risk of fire that prompted him to stop the prayer.
Ashutosh Anand, one of the wardens of Jhelum Hostel, rubbished the allegations of stopping the ceremony due to religious reasons. “Though havans are not part of any academic activities but our major concern was the fire hazard. Also, there were complaints from other students about the chanting of mantras,” he said.