New Delhi: The Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Thursday said it blackened the bust of Veer Savarkar while garlanding the busts of Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose installed by the ABVP-led Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) at the varsity.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-led DUSU had installed the busts on Tuesday night outside the Arts Faculty, without permission from the authorities.
The NSUI and the Left-backed All India Students' Association had criticised the move, saying Savarkar cannot be kept on the same pedestal as that of Bose and Singh.
Around midnight, 20 NSUI activists blackened the bust of Savarkar and offered a shoe chain to it, the NSUI said. They also raised slogans Bhagat Singh and Bose Amar Rahe (long live).
NSUI Delhi wing president Akshay Lakra said, "How could they have put the bust of Savarkar alongside Bose and Bhagat Singh, that too overnight. We had to take matter in our hands. The university administration has been silent about the issue. The varsity is working at the behest of ABVP, the child unit of RSS."
The ABVP called it a "heinous act".
"Last night, the humiliation done by the NSUI to the statue of Veer Savarkar at Delhi University is a heinous act," said Monika Chaudhary, national media convenor, ABVP.
Sources said DU Proctor Neeta Sehgal issued a show-cause notice to former DUSU president Shakti Singh on Wednesday demanding an answer on his act of installing the bust without due permission from the authorities within 24 hours.
Shakti Singh's tenure as DUSU president ended on August 21. The Delhi University Students' Union polls will be held on September 12.
On Wednesday, the ABVP had said it has instructed its office-bearers in the DUSU to shift the busts to the office till the time the university administration grants permission.
