As lathicharge on women students protesting against an alleged eve-teasing in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) on Saturday night outraged the student community across India, the Varanasi district on Monday removed three additional city magistrates and two police officers, and filed an FIR against unidentified policemen for the excesses on students. However more strangely, police filed an FIR also against over 1,000 students in connection with the violence in the university.
On a day Opposition parties hit at the BJP over the police excesses on the campus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and asked him to address the issue at the earliest. Chief Minister Adityanath had on Sunday asked the Divisional Commissioner to submit details about the incident. The Commissioner held a “khuli panchayat” on the BHU campus on Monday morning seeking students’ accounts of the whole situation.
Urging students to end protest, Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik constituted a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to probe into the violence. “A committee has been constituted under the Chief Secretary. Necessary action will be taken on the basis of its report. The committee will see as to how police had behaved and examine other aspects,” Naik said in lucknow on Monday while responding to queries from mediapersons about the incident. Naik described the incident as sad.
Assembly Speaker Hriday Narain Dixit too appealed to the students to end their protest. “Students should have dialogue with the administration because every problem could be resolved only through talks,” Dixit told The Pioneer in lucknow on Monday.
The alleged eve-teasing incident occurred on Thursday night after which the students started a protest near the university’s main gate. A woman student of the Arts Faculty was allegedly harassed by three motorcycle-borne men inside the campus while she was returning to her hostel. According to the complainant, the men abused her and fled when she resisted their attempts. The woman alleged that security guards, about 100 metres from where the incident happened, did nothing to stop the eve-teasers.
She said her warden, instead of taking up the issue with her superiors, asked her why she was returning hostel so late. The warden’s response angered the students who sat on a “dharna” at the main gate on Thursday midnight. The police action took place on Saturday night after students, agitating against an alleged eve-teasing incident, wanted to meet the Vice Chancellor at his residence. Several women students and at least two journalists were also injured in the police lathicharge. BHU students have alleged they have to face eve-teasers on the campus regularly and the varsity administration is not taking any action to stop the miscreants from roaming freely on the campus.
In the aftermath of the violence, the district administration has declared holidays from Monday till October 2 in all colleges and universities in Varanasi. The BHU had earlier announced that the holidays would start from September 28.
A press release from Varanasi’s District Information office said three additional city magistrates --- Manoj Kumar Singh, Sushil Kumar Gaund and Jagdamma Prasad Singh --- have been removed. Circle Officer of Bhelupur, Nivesh Katiyar, too has been removed and has been replaced by Circle Officer of Kotwali Ayodhya Prasad Singh, police officials said. Station Officer of lanka Police Station Rajiv Singh has been removed and sent to police lines. Station officer of Jaitpura Police Station Sanjiv Mishra has been posted in his place, the officials said.
The police action against the students on the university campus has been criticised by various parties, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi Party workers held a sit-in in Varanasi and slogans were raised against the PM. Over 200 Samajwadi Party activists were detained while they were going to meet the injured students as well as protesting students.