Rajasthan minister defends IB watch over universities

“There have been various protests, some for JNU, some against, at several educational institutes across Rajasthan. So, to avoid any deterioration in law and order situation, we have asked our units to keep a watch on the activities in universities and colleges,” ADG (intelligence) Utkal Ranjan Sahoo had told The Indian Express.

He, however, denied receiving any inputs or alerts from central agencies regarding the same. When asked, Saraf said the police were well within their rights to check anti-national activities at universities. “(The) Police and intelligence are also part of the government. If the police have decided to keep a watch, it is in national interest. Of course the universities should be watched so that anti-national activities don’t take place there,” Saraf told The Indian Express.

“Autonomy does not mean they shout anti-India slogans and engage in sedition. Such activities in the temples of education are absolutely intolerable,” Saraf added.

However, the vice-chancellors of the two most prominent universities in the state said there was no need for the police to monitor university activities. “No such incident has taken place at our university. The students here don’t have such ideas, so there is no need for the police to keep a watch,” Rajasthan University V-C J P Singhal said.

R P Singh, Singhal’s counterpart at Jai Narain Vyas University in Jodhpur, echoed his views. “The environment at this university is not vitiated like JNU. The Proctor and other university officials, including myself, are closely watching the students. We are all very concerned about our students,” Singh said.

But he added, “There is no need for police intervention here since there are no anti-national students or activities here and never will be.” On Tuesday, the ABVP demonstrated at the Rajasthan University against the alleged anti-national activities at JNU, while its ideological rival NSUI protested against the “crackdown” at JNU and the subsequent violence at Patiala House court premises on Monday.

The ABVP said it will hold demonstrations at all universities across the state on Thursday, as part of a nationwide campaign. “We have always believed that the police should remain outside the campus. But events of the past few days, orchestrated by the SFI, AISA and NSUI, have forced us to rethink,” state ABVP president Mithilesh Gautam said.

“It is the police’s job to watch and prevent anti-national activities. With these sort of anti-national activities taking place at universities, the police should take action in the strongest terms,” he added. The NSUI’s Rajasthan in-charge, Gulab Sinh Rajput, condemned the government’s move of “policing universities”, saying the NDA government had been muzzling students voices all over the country.

“The university is a place where all students are allowed to speak their mind. This government has unleashed police terror on universities with the intention to silence students. The NSUI will oppose this move,” state NSUI president Rakesh Meena said.