UP Govt Orders Judicial Probe Into Banaras Hindu University Violence

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday ordered a judicial inquiry into the violence on the Banaras Hindu University campus.

“A judicial inquiry has been ordered into the incidents,” UP government spokesperson and cabinet minister Srikant Sharma said.

He was speaking to mediapersons after a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Sharma, however, did not elaborate as to whether the probe would be conducted by a retired or sitting judge.

Earlier in the day, the Varanasi district magistrate has written to the BHU Registrar asking him to take immediate steps to address the concerns of the female students. It is also being said that the university V-C’s chair is now at risk, after he failed to handle the situation.

The UP government has finally intervened in the BHU case, a day after both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah asked the UP chief minister about the Saturday night incident.

On Saturday night, police resorted to lathicharging hundreds of girls outside the BHU campus, where they were protesting against the molestation of a fellow student, university authorities who ended up victim shaming her and a general lack of security on campus.

The protests turned violent when some miscreants tried to burn a few properties and police used force to quell the agitation.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah spoke to the CM and

asked him to address the issue at the earliest.

Sharma said the government wanted that there should be communication with the students by the local administration, vice chancellor and other university officials. Sharma accused the opposition parties of trying to vitiate the academic atmosphere.

“If they wish to do politics, they should do it with us and not with students. They should keep away from holding agitations in campuses,” he said.

On lathicharge on girl students sitting on dharna against the alleged eve-teasting on the campus, he said, "We are identifying those 'outsiders' who are using the students to do politics and also identifying those who indulged in lathicharge."

(with PTI inputs)