ABVP Goons Blacken Face Of Professor, Parade Him Through Campus At Gujarat Varsity

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) —the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — blackened the face of a professor with ink and paraded him through the campus on 26 June at Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University at Bhuj in Kutch district of Gujarat.

A video of the professor, Girin Baxi, being paraded with the ABVP goons chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘ABVP zindabad’ has gone viral on social media. The incident took place ahead of the university’s senate elections, scheduled for 22 July. Baxi a coordinator for the elections. The ABVP had accused him of selectively rejecting voter registration forms.

Speaking to Newsclick, Jayraj Jadeja, an MCom student at the university, said, “Two days ago, at least 20 people accompanied by two RSS members named Bhargav Shah and Ram Gadhvi came into the classroom where Professor Baxi was teaching. They dragged him out, blackened his face and assaulted him. They accused the professor of discrepancy in the university electoral rolls.” 

Baxi was rushed to a hospital after he complained of severe skin irritation following the attack, Jayraj added. Professor Girin Baxi is an associate professor and head of the Chemistry department in the university. 

The vice-chancellor of the university, Chandrasinh Jadeja, told Newsclick, “It is very disheartening to see such an incident happening in our campus. The investigation is going on with the help of the Kutch police. So far, based on the CCTV footage, four people have been identified who are associated with the RSS.” 

The vice-chancellor said those identified were not from the university campus, but from some other college affiliated to the Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University. 

“This is the first time that a teacher from our university has been assaulted. This must not happen again because it will also ruin other students’ careers,” he said. 

Vardhan Yadav, national general secretary of the Congress-backed student outfit National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) in Gujarat, told Newsclick, “It is not the first time that the ABVP has behaved like hooligans, even with the teachers. Since the Modi government came to power in 2014, such horrific incidents have become very common. It is evident in how they recently tried to saffronise the Jawaharlal Nehru University. They did the same in the University of Hyderabad and the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, as well.”

The NSUI office-bearer added that the RSS and BJP were tying to crush the autonomy of the higher education institutions in the country. “At all the major universities, the government has appointed vice chancellors from the RSS camp. Soon the NSUI will run statewide protests with the help teachers’ association in Gujarat and across the country to protect the teachers and institutions,” he said.