Jinnah portrait row: Relay hunger strike to begin if demands not met, warn AMUSU leaders

Aligarh: As the ongoing protest by AMU students entered its 11th day on Saturday, the students' union leaders said that the stir would be intensified and a relay hunger strike started this evening if their demands were not met. AMUSU president Mashkoor Usmani said that a general body meeting of the students' union was held yesterday.

In the meeting, it was decided that a relay hunger strike would begin this evening if authorities do not agree to take action against members of right-wing organizations who barged into the campus and were involved in acts of violence, Usmani said.

They were also demanding action against the police officers responsible for a lathicharge on students on the same day. A number of students were injured in the lathicharge, he said. Around midnight last night, AMU Students' Union met District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh to press for their demands and to hammer out a solution before this evening.

"We are hopeful after last night's talks that something concrete would come out by this evening," Usmani said. He said the students would cooperate with the administration in ensuring that the annual exams, which began today, were not affected by the ongoing protest.

However, when contacted, the district magistrate said it was not possible to concede to their demands even before they have called off their protest. Singh also dismissed allegations that the clash which took place on Wednesday was a part of a conspiracy to attack former vice president Hamid Ansari.

He said that had Ansari, who was present then in the campus, felt that he was a target of miscreants, he would certainly have filed a complaint with the police. "I have told the leaders of the AMU Students Union that they should not make such baseless allegations," he said.

Activists of Hindutva organisations last evening held a protest at the Ramlila Grounds, demanding that the portrait of Mohammad Jinnah be immediately removed from the university premises and a probe be conducted into the alleged anti-national activities there.

According to media reports, the state president of the Vishwa Hindu Personal Board, Dharmendra Singh Pawar, yesterday said in Gajraula town that he would offer Rs 1 lakh to anyone who would remove Jinnah's portrait.