NSUI blackens bust of Savarkar installed by ABVP-led DUSU at DU

The Congress-affiliated NSUI on Thursday said it blackened the bust of Veer Savarkar while garlanding those of Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, which were installed by the ABVP-led DUSU at the varsity.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-led Delhi University Students' Union had installed the busts outside the Arts Faculty building on Tuesday.

The National Students' Union of India 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.

In a video of the incident, NSUI Delhi wing president Akshay Lakra can be seen garlanding the busts of Bose and Singh and bowing down to them. He then removes the garlands around Savarkar's bust and puts a garland of shoes around it even as he is stopped by security personnel.

The garland of shoes is removed by them but Lakra blackens the bust and then shouts slogans of 'Bhagat Singh zindabad', 'NSUI zindabad'.

"How could they have put the bust of Savarkar alongside Bose and Bhagat Singh, that too overnight. We had to take the matter into our hands. The university administration has been silent about the issue. The varsity is working at the behest of ABVP," Lakra alleged