AMU Maharashtra alumni body seeks judicial probe of violence

The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of Maharashtra today demanded judicial probe into the violence on the varsity campus earlier this week, and called for "strictest possible action" against the culprits.

"An environment of growing intolerance has been created in society due to politics of hatred and division. The attack on AMU was deliberate and state-sponsored as goons entered the university waving and firing pistols in the presence of police and media," Tanweer Alam, president of the the association, said here.

Violence broke out at the AMU campus on May 2 as the row over Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait on the campus triggered a right-wing protest.

At least six people were injured when police lobbed teargas shells to disperse AMU students who demanded arrest of the protesters who had earlier barged into the campus.

Alam alleged that when AMU students and staff handed over some of the accused to police, they were released without the registration of an FIR.

"The same police brutally lathi-charged AMU students who were protesting peacefully. Such a state-sponsored assault on the university and students is highly condemnable and it was black day for our democracy," he said.

The police had been provided with evidence in the form of CCTV footage, he said.

"It was shameful that police were supporting goons. We demand a judicial probe into the whole incident and urge the Centre and state government to take necessary and strictest possible action against the perpetrators of the crime and its conspirators," Alam said.