Urging students to end their protest, Governor Ram Naik constituted a committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajiv Kumar to probe the violence that rocked Benares Hindu University campus over an alleged eve-teasing incident.
“A committee headed by the Chief Secretary will enquire into the violence at the BHU campus. It will also probe into the circumstances that led to lathi charge by the police. The committee will examine whether the use of force against students was necessary at that time,” Naik told media persons in lucknow on Monday.
This will be the second probe team that would enquire into the BHU fracas. Earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had asked Commissioner of Varanasi Nitin Gokaran to enquire into the matter and submit a report to the government at the earliest. The Commissioner had held a ‘khuli panchayat’ on the campus in the morning asking students for their views.
“What had happened at the BHU campus was unfortunate. I appeal to the students to shun the path of violence and help the administration in restoring peace on the campus,” Naik said speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a function in lucknow on Monday.
A number of students, including girls, and two journalists were injured when the police used force against students who were staging dharna against eve teasing. The BHU administration had claimed that outsiders were involved in the protest that led to violence.
Speaker of Assembly, Hriday Narain Dixit too appealed to the students to end their protest and come to the dialogue table. “Students should have a dialogue with the admninistration because every problem could be resolved only through talks,” Dixit told ‘The Pioneer’in lucknow on Monday.