Anhad members attacked for supporting Chandramohan, alleges Hashmi

Ahmedabad, May 16 (UNI) Act Now for Harmony And Democracy (Anhad), a non-governmental organisation, today registered its strong protest against the alleged attack on its activists by members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Vadodara.

On May 14, about 50 activists, artists, youth and students associated with Anhad had gone to Vadodara to express their solidarity with Chandramohan, the arts students from the faculty of Fine Arts in the M S University, who has been a victim of the moral brigade's wrath, Anhad managing trustee Shabnam Hashmi told reporters here.

Relating the incident that reportedly occurred outside the campus of M S University, Ms Hashmi said a violent mob of ABVP and VHP activists confronted the Anhad members and abused them. The VHP and ABVP acvtivists, then, grabbed two students from the Anhad side, hit them and dragged the two to the centre of the road, Ms Hashmi said adding that the boys were told to say on television that they had been paid Rs 20 to join the demonstration.

''It was with great difficulty that one of the boys was rescued, the other one was missing for a long time and we could locate him only after two hours. We soon learnt that three of our young students were in the police station. It is important to note that none of the VHP and ABVP members were arrested,'' alleged Ms Hashmi.

Ms Hashmi claimed that even when most Anhad members were returning back in their vehicles, the VHP and ABVP activists had threatened them and misbehaved with the female members.

She further alleged that some youngsters on the Anhad side were forced to make statements on local television channels that they had been hired to join the demonstrations.

''We strongly condemn the VHP, ABVP attack on young girls and boys during the demonstration. We condemn the role played by some of the local Vadodara media who telecast and printed false stories about the students who are fighting for equality, justice and communal harmony, and we salute their spirit that despite the attack they refused to tow their line,'' she said. Anhad has also condemned the Gujarat police's ''role'' in whole episode.

UNI