Ramjas College students protesting against professor accused of molestation attacked by ABVP: SFI

NEW DELHI: Students and professors protesting against Delhi University’s Ramjas College professor, accused of molestation, were attacked by the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), alleged college student union’s vice-president.

Ramjas Students’ Union (RJSU) claimed several allegations levelled against the DU professor, sexual harassment being a new addition to the list, and criticised the college administration for not taking any action against the person.

“Professor...of Ramjas college has been accused of molestation, adding to a growing list of similar allegations against him. Shockingly, despite repeated complaints, the college administration has consistently turned a blind eye, failing to conduct any serious investigation or take meaningful action,” said Stanzin Deskyong, VP, RJSU.

Mass gathering in Ramjas College

The VP who belongs to the Students' Federation of India (SFI) had called for a mass gathering in the college. Narrating the incident, he said that when common students in large numbers gathered in the Eco Lawns at the college, they were attacked by the ABVP members who came from outside of the campus.

“They beat up common students with sticks and flower pots. One student from the third year was gravely injured, his head was bandaged and he was sent to the hospital,” the SFI member claimed.

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According to Stanzin, the college administration, security and police did nothing even when students called for help. A professor from the English department did try to protect his students but he was also heckled and harassed by ABVP goons, he alleged. Moreover, students who tried to record the events had their phones snatched by the administration.

'We were forced to lock Dean's office': ABVP

In an official statement, the ABVP said that its members and ABVP-led DUSU locked the office of Dean and Joint Dean (Student Welfare) of Delhi University today demanding immediate dismissal of Dhaniram and a police inquiry into the matter. In response to the SFI statement, it said that the attempts by leftist professor of Ramjas College to stop students going for agitation failed.

The decision to lock the dean's office was taken by the students' union as there was "no action taken against the accused even in the last 10 days".

"In this sequence, when the workers of ABVP's Ramjas unit were leaving their college for the agitation, a leftist professor Devraj Mukherjee, a friend of the said professor, tried to stop them and started forbidding them from protesting. When the students protested, Devraj Mukherjee slapped a student and threatened to ruin his career. Even after this clash, the activists of the Vidhyarthi Parishad continued with their protest and reached the DSW office and locked it," the ABVP said in a statement.

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"Despite our repeated talks with the Ramjas administration and the Delhi University administration, Delhi University did not take any action against Dhaniram and he is freely roaming around in the university, showing his influence. Today we were forced to lock the Dean's office of Delhi University. Delhi University Students' Union will sit here on protest until Dhaniram is removed from his post," DUSU secretary Mitravinda added.

Stating that the ABVP has been "fighting this battle continuously for the last one month to get justice for the girl student in this case", ABVP Delhi state secretary Harsh Attri condemned a large group, which also includes leftist professors, for trying to save Dhaniram and suppress this issue.