Ujjain VC attacked for ‘help J&K’ appeal

In a similar attack by BJP workers, a Prof of same varsity had died of cardiac arrest

Ujjain: Providing relief to flood-hit people of Jammu and Kashmir was a priority area for the Narendra Modi government.

But the Vice-Chancellor of Ujjain University was attacked on Monday, allegedly by radical saffron groups, for asking students to help the people in J&K.

Jawahar Lal Kaul, Vice-Chancellor of Vikram University, had also appealed to local landlords to waive rent for Kashmiri students of his University, who were in financial trouble owing to the condition of their families back home. That did not go down well with men from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, who took it upon themselves to confront him. Kaul, who was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday said, "A group had come to my office and I was telling them that I have made such an appeal, when they suddenly turned violent".

Kaul recalled an eight year old incident of a Professor being manhandled. He said Professor HS Sabharwal had died of cardiac arrest eight years ago in Ujjain after he was allegedly manhandled by workers of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. But all the accused were let off by the court for want of evidence, he added.

The Vikram University was shut on Tuesday in protest against the violence. "We condemn what has happened with our VC, so we have shut the university," said Kamal Joshi, a leader of the university's teachers' association.