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Azim Premji University vandalism: writers and activists demand withdrawal of case against students who planned discussion
While ABVP protesters were booked for vandalism, Azim Premji University complained to the police that Spark Reading Circle, APU, had invited people to attend a campus discussion without seeking permission.
ABVP protesters smeared black ink on the university’s nameboard, spray-painted walls with slogans, and verbally abused staff and students who tried to stop them. (Photo by special arrangement)
Over 100 citizens, including academicians, writers, journalists, and activists, have urged Azim Premji University’s (APU) vice-chancellor to withdraw a case filed against Spark Reading Circle, APU, a student group that had planned a campus discussion on alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.
Their open letter to the V-C comes days after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, barged into APU in Bengaluru and protested against the discussion about the 1991 Kunan-Poshpora incident in Kashmir, in which the Army was accused of committing mass rapes during a search operation.
While ABVP protesters were booked for vandalism, APU Registrar Rishikesh B S complained to the police on February 24 that Spark Reading Circle, APU, had invited people to attend a discussion on the campus without seeking permission from the university authorities.
The university said that Spark Reading Circle, APU, had no official connection with it and had misused the abbreviation APU.
The citizens who wrote an open letter to the V-C include writers Banjagere Jayaprakash, G Ramakrishna, and Rajendra Chenni, as well as activists Vimala K S, Rajanna R, and Rakshita B N.
Their letter read, “Higher education institutions, especially universities, should be spaces that encourage students to critically examine social and governmental policies through debate and dialogue. Instead, in a situation where outsiders entered the university campus and attacked students, the university administration has filed FIRs against the very students who were attacked. Through this, the university is betraying the very values of critical thinking and social justice that it claims to promote in its curriculum. This is an act of gross injustice.”
Earlier, the Student Council of Azim Premji University issued a statement expressing concern over the FIR filed against members of the Spark Reading Circle. While acknowledging that organising an event without administrative approval may amount to a procedural violation, the council said such matters should be addressed through internal disciplinary mechanisms rather than criminal proceedings.
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