New Delhi:
The Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya in Maharashtra’s Wardha has expelled six students after the held protests against the university administration’s decision to block them from writing letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the rising incidents of mob lynching, according to a report published in the scroll.in.
The central university, however, didn’t mention the event in its expulsion order and said that the students were expelled for violating the Model Code of Conduct and “mass demonstrations with the intent to interfere in the administrative process”.
All the six students who were expelled by the university are reportedly from the lower caste and other backward classes. Their names are - Chandan Saroj, Neeraj Kumar, Rajesh Sarthi, Rajnish Ambedkar, Pankaj Vela and Vaibhav Pimpalkar.
In a statement released after the incident, the All India Students Association (AISA) said that the letters written by the students during Wednesday’s event had protested against the mob lynching incidents, “sell-out” of publicly-owned companies, “silencing of Kashmir”, “shielding of rape-accused leaders” and “murder of democracy” under the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.
What was the context of the event to write protest letters to PM Modi?
According to the Quint, the event to write letters was organised in solidarity with the 49 celebrities who wrote a letter to PM Modi to draw his attention towards the incidents of mob lynching. The BJP-JDU coalition government in Bihar had filed sedition case against them for their letter to Modi.
After facing the flak from all quarters, the Bihar government relented and closed the case, calling it malicious. The Bihar police also said that action will be taken against the complainant for false case.
"The SSP recommenced closure of the case and action against the complainant for filing a false case without any rhyme or reason," the officer said. "The investigating officer in the case will file the final report at the local court within a day or two," police spokesperson Jitendra Kumar was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Earlier, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to take a public stand welcoming dissent and assure the nation of his "commitment to upholding Freedom of Expression even when it involves disagreement with you or your government."
