Investigators link fresh student clashes at HPU to March 11 assault; lack of security blamed

According to ABVP, unidentified SFI members allegedly attacked ABVP workers near the entrance of HPU around 9.10 am on Thursday.

A source said Akshay Thakur, who was recently appointed Campus president of ABVP, was one of the prime suspects in the March 11 attack. He was also the complainant in the FIR lodged on Thursday against unidentified SFI members.

The source added that Thakur’s recent appointment as ABVP Campus president had fueled anger among SFI leaders who were determined to avenge the attack.

The police said that the lack of adequate security personnel on the campus is another major factor behind the rising frequency of such violent incidents on the campus located at Summer Hill in Shimla. (Express Photo)

Thursday’s violence between members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) was the fourth such incident this year for which FIRs have been registered at Boileauganj Police Station. In three of the cases, cross FIRs were lodged. In one of the incidents, preventive action was taken.

An HPU faculty member told The Indian Express, “In 2017, following a major outbreak of student violence, the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh ordered the deployment of a police reserve battalion of around two dozen personnel for round-the-clock duty on the campus. The battalion remained stationed at HPU until January 2024, but was later withdrawn when the state police department demanded reimbursement from the university for the deployment expenses. The HPU authorities expressed their inability to pay the amount, which ran into crores of rupees.”

In the 1990s and 2000s, the HPU witnessed gruesome violence resulting in the deaths of student leaders such as National Students Union of India (NSUI) leader Nasir Khan in 1987 and ABVP worker Kuldeep Dhatwalia in 1995.

Student elections have been banned in Himachal Pradesh since 2014.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Shimla, Shakti Singh said the police have arrested all he accused students in all the cases registered this year. Many were later released on bail. “In most cases, the involvement of HPU students has been established, while the role of outsiders is minimal,” he added.

Absence of trained security guards, police personnel cause of concern

The absence of trained security guards and police personnel is also a contributory factor in the sudden spike in violence, he pointed out.

Sources said that there are a handful of ex-servicemen hired by the HPU from an outsourced agency who work as security guards, most of whom are not trained to control mobs and how to act when violence erupts.

Gauri Dutt Sharma, Chief Security Officer, HPU, said, “We have proposed the permanent deployment of police personnel on the campus through the Vice-Chancellor’s office. CCTV cameras have been installed at all key locations in view of the repeated violent clashes between student unions”. The SFI and ABVP dominate student politics at HPU, while the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Congress’s student wing, has a relatively minor presence on the campus.

SFI is affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), while ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and enjoys the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

An SFI leader, requesting anonymity, said, “Yesterday’s violence could also be linked to an earlier clash between SFI and ABVP workers at Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district, where ABVP members thrashed one of our activists.”

A timeline of HPU student violence:

March 11: Two dozen ABVP workers attacked SFI volunteers with sharp-edged weapons at Potterhill Ground, leaving six critically injured

May 9: Three ABVP workers, including two women students, engaged in verbal arguments with SFI workers. Later in the evening, workers clashed, and two people were injured.

July 26: Students clashed near Ambedkar Bhawan; preventive action was taken

Sept 18: ABVP and SFI members attacked each other, including women students, were involved; cross FIRs were registered.

October 9: SFI workers attacked ABVP members at the HPU entrance gate.

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