Fine Arts row: Police file 2 FIRs in MSU protests

The Vadodara city police Sunday lodged two separate FIRs in two incidents of protest against the Faculty of Fine Arts at MS University in Vadodara that came under attack Thursday from right-wing groups for displaying “objectionable” paintings that “hurt religious sentiments”.

Officials of Sayajigunj police station are complainants in both FIRs. In the first FIR, two people were identified and booked for allegedly assaulting a constable of the police station while on duty to disperse the mob. Police constable Bharat Magabhai, who was unarmed at the protest site Thursday, has stated the two accused–Kartik Joshi and Dhruv Parikh–allegedly obstructed him from performing his duty during the mob violence inside the faculty campus. “Dhruv Parikh and Kartik Joshi charged toward me warning, “No one can tell us what to do”. They first manhandled me and then slapped me two-three times,” the police constable states.

The second FIR is against 31 workers of the ABVP who staged a protest outside the MSU head office Saturday and clashed with the police.