AMU warns Smriti Irani of communal unrest at campus; BJP calls letter unfortunate

A fresh controversy is brewing in the Aligarh Muslim University. The University has written to Education Minister Smriti Irani warning of a potential “communal conflagration” in the campus over an event planned by local BJP activists on Monday. According to this report in the DNA, the BJP slammed the vice-chancellor’s opposition and called the incident ‘unfortunate.’ BJP national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao speaking to a news agency said that maintaining secularism at an university of AMU’s stature is responsibility of the top authorities. “Why do they have to worry about communal flare up for just remembering somebody who had made significant contribution to this university? It is highly unfortunate; maintaining the secular character of the university is the responsibility of all the authorities. I think better sense will prevail and celebrations will happen as scheduled,” Rao was quoted as saying by DNA. BJP had asked the university to celebrate the birth anniversary of Raja Mahendra Pratap, a freedom fighter, who according to them had donated land to AMU. Rao added that the freedom fighter was even an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University. Meanwhile, speaking to the media Smriti Irani said she had not received any letter from the AMU V-C till 9 pm – when she left office on Thursday. The minister was quoted as saying by Zee News: “I received no such letter and I can only react to contents once I read them and I receive a letter."  [caption id=“attachment_1798355” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Aligarh Muslim University Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah. Image from AMU website[/caption] In a sharply-worded letter, the university’s Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah has opposed the local BJP unit’s plan to mark the birth anniversary of the freedom fighter within the campus. According to reports, the Vice-Chancellor Zameer-ud-Din Shah and the leaders of BJP and student wing ABVP met on Thursday in what was described as an attempt to defuse the situation. Shah alleged that while the university had asked the BJP to shift its celebrations to a patch of land donated by the legendary freedom fighter near the campus, the party’s activists had insisted on a venue within the campus. “The majority of AMU students are annoyed with this intransigence,” he told in his letter to Irani, reported NDTV. The Vice Chancellor also said that a rival political party has announced that they would not allow the event. “AMU does not want to get involved in politics and the University needs your earnest support urgently as there is a serious threat to law and order,” the Vice Chancellor wrote, reports NDTV. In fact, the AMU has rejected the claims made by BJP that Raja Mahendra Pratap had donated land to the university. “We do not have any records of the king donating land to the university. He gave some land to a school which after the Supreme Court verdict came down to us,” said AMU professor Mohammad Abrar. The BJP leadership, however, is unrelenting and plans to protest at the varsity’s gate in case the “AMU doesn’t give Singh his due”, reported Times of India. The party is adamant on celebrating the Raja Mahendra Pratap’s birth anniversary in the university campus. District president of BJP, Devraj Singh, told TOI: “We want Raja Mahender Pratap Singh’s birth anniversary to be celebrated by the AMU fraternity because he made generous contributions in the establishment of the university. He is as important as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. If Singh’s birth anniversary is not celebrated by the AMU, we will protest at Babe Syed Gate.” “If the VC celebrates the anniversary of the king, we welcome it. Otherwise, our party will celebrate the anniversary inside the AMU campus. AMU must celebrate anniversary of the person who donate it land,” BJP leader Satish Gautam told CNN-IBN.