NEW DELHI, Aug 19: The Uttar Pradesh police have registered complaints against some students of a college in Aligarh for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during a “Tiranga Yatra.” The principal and the manager of the college have also been named as accused for not taking any action against the guilty students so far.
The incident happened on August 13 when the college students took out the yatra as the part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahtsava.” Several students have been charged by the police after videos of them raising slogans in support of Pakistan surfaced. They have been charged under the relevant section of the Indian Penal Code.
Some college students said on August 13, a Tiranga rally was organized by the college. “A rally was organized by our college. Teachers walked ahead of us in the procession, followed by us. There were many students. Suddenly, we heard slogans of ‘Pakistan zindabad’. We immediately informed our teachers about it. I only heard the slogans. I don’t know whether they were being raised by students of the college or outsiders.” Some had complained to the college administration, with videos of the procession. However, no action was taken and the college allegedly tried to suppress it.
The complainant then approached the police with the video, based on which, a case was registered against unknown students. The principal and the manager of the college have also been named as accused of “disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant”.
The principal when asked, however, claimed that there was no videos available to substantiate the allegations of anyone raising pro-Pakistan slogans. “It was a huge gathering on August 13. We got information from some students that slogans of Hindustan zindabad were raised and it was countered with “Pakistan zindabad.” We began investigating it. But no video could be found,” the principal said.
Aligarh’s Superintendent of Police (Rural), Palash Bansal, said during the rally, in addition to the patriotic slogans, some objectionable slogans were raised. “We took cognizance of the case after seeing the video. Action has been taken against the principal and the manager,” Bansal said.
(Manas Dasgupta)