The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protested on Thursday following the vandalism of a 'Democracy Wall' banner at Pune's Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE).
The banner, titled 'Democracy Wall', bore logos of GIPE, the Election Commission of India (ECI), and the Government of India. It was intended for students to express their views ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, the banner was vandalised, with the word 'Democracy' struck through using spray paint. In the space provided for writing, 'NOTA (None of the above)' was prominently written in bold letters, alongside 'Inquilab Zindabad' in the Devanagari script.
Anil Thombre, State Minister, ABVP, condemned the act, calling it "anti-national" and "anti-democracy." He criticised GIPE's administration for inaction despite the banner being up for two days.
"For the last two days, the banner has been at the institute. But it wasn't taken down by the administration. Election Commission and police officials later took it down. In the banner, it was clearly urged to press 'NOTA' during the upcoming elections. We condemn this. Democracy must be saved. The Constitution written by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar must be saved," said Thombre.
Regarding the incident, Col Kapil Jodh, Registrar, GIPE, said, "Gokhale Institute has established a vibrant Electoral Literacy Club under the aegis of ECI and GoM to spread awareness and promote participation in the electoral process. The club undertakes various activities such as voter enrollment camp, awareness march, pledge ceremony, etc. As part of the ongoing campaign, the institute has created a 'Democracy Wall' to encourage students to express their thoughts. In an unfortunate incident, the wall was found vandalised by some miscreants on the evening of April 10. The institute has taken cognisance and an enquiry process has been initiated."
Author Shefali Vaidya took to X (formerly Twitter) and asked, "Is GIPE the new JNU?". She also tagged Pune City Police and the ECI to take action against the miscreants. She also tagged Shivajinagar MLA Siddharth Shirole to look into the incident.
Meanwhile, a fresh 'Democracy Wall' banner has been put up.
