DU students stage anti-ABVP protest

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) Delhi University students today held a protest against ABVP members, who went on a rampage yesterday, and submitted a memorandum to Vice Chancellor.

Several ABVP members were arrested and criminal case filed against them after they went on a rampage during a protest against alleged objectionable references to characters in the Ramayan in a text recommended for the University's undergraduate programme.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP's student wing, claims that the contentious text is part of a book compiled by Prime Minister's daughter Upinder Singh.

The article ''Three hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and three thoughts on translation'' was written by the late scholar A K Ramanujan in 1987 Upinder Singh, a professor of ancient Indian history at DU, has, however, denied that she had compiled the piece or recommended it to her students.

Today's demonstration was held outside the Vice Chancellor's office, under heavy police presence.

The demonstrators were raising anti-ABVP slogans and demanding action against guilty people.

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) condemned the incident, saying it was a shocking incident.

''Some elements are unwilling to tolerate critical assessment of existing literature, stories and plays on mythology... Mr Ramanujan was awarded Padma Shri for his works,'' said DUTA president Aditya Narayan Misra.

Yesterday agitating students pelted stones at the building and broke window panes and furniture in the history department.

The ABVP said a deliberate attempt has been made to hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community. It has already sent memoranda to the vice-chancellor and the head of the history department seeking deletion of the text from the course.

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