The anger over violence in Delhi's JNU spilled onto roads in Pune where members of several groups staged protests on Monday, while the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad held its own demonstration and blamed Leftist groups for the attack on students and teachers.
Violence had broken out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus. At least 28 people, including JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh, were injured.
The attack inside the prestigious university triggered protests in several parts of the country. The Left-controlled JNUSU and the ABVP blamed each other for the violence.
In Pune, functionaries and members of a clutch of organisations, including Yuvak Kranti Dal, Rashtra Seva Dal, Navjawan Bharat Sabha and Swaraj Abhiyan, held a protest near the collectrate in the heart of the city and strongly denounced the JNU violence.
The protesters, united under the banner of 'We the people of India', submitted a memorandum to the district administration seeking suspension of JNU Vice-Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar over the mayhem.
They said the attack in the campus took place in presence of police and it, therefore, meant the administration led by Kumar was "supportive of the act".
The memorandum demanded that the incident be probed by a panel of retired judges and the guilty be brought to book.
Calling the JNU incident horrific, the memorandum said the JNU violence was part of efforts going on over the last one month to "trample values enshrined in the Constitution".
In the recent past, Pune has seen protests against the new citizenship law.
Governments led by the BJP at the Centre and several states were "suppressing" people protesting peacefully, it claimed.
A similar protest took place outside the Garware College where speakers condemned the JNU violence and blamed Sangh Parivar-linked outfits for it.
The ABVP, which has been accused of being behind the JNU incident, on its part, held a protest in the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and blamed Leftists groups for the attack.
"Since a lot of people are coming out in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Leftists outfits are rattled and are resorting to violence, thrashing students and damaging property," said ABVP member Anil Thombre.
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