SFI demands ban on outfits fuelling communal tension in educational institutions

The Himachal Pradesh University unit of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) today demanded that the university authorities should ban organisations which promote communal strife in educational institutions. In a press statement issued here today, the SFI condemned the recent clash between activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the SFI on the university campus on Saturday.

SFI campus secretary Sunny Seakta stated that SFI activists were preparing to hold a protest in university to raise various students’ issues when the incident happened.

As the new academic session at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) had commenced, the SFI was preparing to stage a protest against the university administration over students’ demands.

In response, the ABVP was reportedly attempting to create a discord among students based on religious and regional lines, thereby disturbing the campus environment, Seakta said.

He further alleged that ABVP activists used communal rhetoric to incite conflict and targeted students belonging to minority community with verbal abuse and physical assault.

“This is not the first instance of the ABVP attempting to create religious tensions within university,” he added. The SFI further accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of exacerbating religious divisions across the country. The SFI claimed that the ABVP, which was associated with the BJP’s ideology, was also trying to disturb unity in the country.

The SFI highlighted recent tensions in Shimla over mosque construction, which it alleged had been reportedly fueled by ABVP activists aiming to incite communal violence within university. The SFI also demanded stringent legal action against ABVP activists for their involvement in acts of communal provocation.

Meanwhile, ABVP activists accused the SFI of assaulting its activists and also for inciting violence on the university campus.