Around 80 Pondicherry University students, affiliated to ABVP, on Tuesday staged a demonstration outside the campus near here to protest resumption of distribution of copies of a controversial magazine which had come under attack from BJP and ABVP for alleged objectionable contents against the Centre. Manish Mahapatra, a student and member of ABVP working Committee of ABVP, who led the protest, said the University was indulging in "doublespeak" in the magazine row. He alleged that the management had promised that action would be taken against those who brought out the magazine, but the key of the room of the Students Welfare Council office, where the magazines were stored following protests last week, was handed over to the Council yesterday paving the way for re-distribution of copies. He claimed that the magazine was released at a conference in the presence of the Vice Chancellor (in charge) Anisa Basheer Khan a few weeks ago and she could not plead ignorance of the contents of the magazine. He said that the demonstration was aimed at urging the HRD Ministry to replace the Vice Chancellor in charge by appointing a full time incumbent. The magazine, titled 'Widerstand' (meaning resistance in German), was brought out a few weeks back by the council. BJP and ABVP activists had strongly protested against the publication after it was released, alleging that it had objectionable remarks against the central government. Meanwhile, BJP asked the HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to replace Anisa Basheer Khan and appoint a full time VC. Watch Video: What's making news BJP's Puducherry unit President V Saminathan said the magazine should be immediately withdrawn from circulation. The vice chancellor (in charge) should be replaced for "administrative chaos and eruption of law and order situation in the University campus in the wake of the publication of the magazine," he said in a release.
