ABVP members disrupt seminar by JNU prof at Odisha varsity

Prateek Singh, the Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police, said police immediately rushed to the campus to defuse the situation. He said those “who tried to create problems” were detained and released after they signed undertakings.

Pradipta Nayak, the convenor of the organising group, Citizen Forum, said Mazumdar was discussing the Indian constitution and the country’s development from an economist’s perspective. “He (the JNU professor) was not discussing anything against the government or anyone. Some ex-students, who claimed to be ABVP supporters, entered the seminar hall and started abusing the speaker. Even as they were told that the speaker would answer their questions later in a separate session, they walked up to the stage and demanded to cancel the meeting,” Nayak told reporters.

Nayak also alleged that he, along with others present during the seminar, were manhandled and threatened by the activists.

The ABVP workers, meanwhile, accused the seminar organisers of attacking them when they tried to raise objections to certain statements. “In his (Mazumdar’s) speech, he made statements which are ‘anti-India’. He said India’s constitution is in danger and that upper-caste people are running the government which needs to be opposed. He made many more statements like this,” said Manas Sahu, an ABVP worker.

He questioned why the varsity authorities allowed “outsiders” to conduct a seminar on a Sunday. Sahu happens to be a former student of the university.

Several videos showing a scuffle between the organisers and the ABVP members have been shared widely on social media. Both groups filed complaints at Saheed Nagar Police station demanding action against each other.

DCP Singh said two cases were registered based on the complaints, and that the situation is being monitored.

The ABVP activists also locked the main gate of the campus and sat on dharna in the evening demanding action against the JNU professor and the organisers.

Speaking to reporters, Mazumdar said the seminar was organised with approval of the Utkal University authority and that there was a discussion on the Constitution, its future and the steps to strengthen it.

“Whatever statements I made were in accordance with the rights guaranteed to me by the Constitution. I made no comments which are against its provisions. But the disruption was of course not according to the law. Such disruption to discuss issues freely speaks to the state of our democracy,” he said.

The university did not respond to repeated calls for comment.