JNU students accused of vandalising Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's portrait on his birth anniversary; visuals surface

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) students have been accused of vandalising a portrait of Shivaji Maharaj while removing a garland from the picture and throwing it away.

Members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP), a student group, claimed that the 'left activists' threw down the portrait of Shivaji Maharaj which was put up on the walls of JNU's student activity centre on the occasion of Shivaji Jayanti.

“ABVP members kept Shivaji's portrait at the JNU Student's Union(JNUSU) office. The leftists came there & removed all portraits and threw the garland in the dustbin and then a fight broke out. 5-6 ABVP members were also injured during this,” Kumar Ashutosh, ABVP JNU's social media convenor told ANI.

Other student groups have alleged that the ABVP had put up the portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj without taking prior permission from the JNUSU delegation.

"ABVP members kept Shivaji's portrait at JNUSU office for which permission from JNUSU delegation was needed. Despite that, they did it illegally. Other students came there & removed all portraits for screening programme due to which a fight broke out between the two groups," said, Ganpat Chaudhary, the General Secretary of National Students' Union of India, while talking to ANI.

The university has released no statements on the incident thus far.

According to media reports, the JNUSU has also accused ABVP activists of attacking students after a candle march which was held in remembrance of Darshan Solanki, an IIT Bombay student who allegedly died by suicide. ABVP members have denied this charge.

(With inputs from ANI)