Madhya Pradesh: Tension as Hanuman statue placed in tribal university

There is tension in the campus of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, after a huge idol of Hanuman was surreptitiously installed. The hand of RSS is being suspected behind the installation of the idol. The huge statue of Hanuman was placed in the dark of night in a well thought out strategy. Tension has risen after students protested the move. The University had been closed on April 10, during the Bharat Bandh call against reservations in jobs and education. However, the University refused to shut on the Bharat Bandh called by Dalit groups in protest against dilution of stringent provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by a Supreme Court judgment. Adivasi groups had also participated in that bandh.

Tameshwar, who knows some students at the university, alleged to National Herald that since the time of Ram Navami, the Sangh has been engaged in transforming the University premises into an RSS shakha. There were reportedly frequent meetings, during which the strategy to place the statue of Hanuman as a symbol was formed.

This statue has been placed near the campus bus stand. When students objected to it, the Vice Chancellor asked to see the CCTV footage of the spot during the installation, but the footage was missing. The students say that it is impossible to impose such a huge giant idol, or for the CCTV footage to go missing, without the collusion of the university administration. Now, preparations are underway to suppress the whole issue. The VC has installed four security guards for the safety of this idol and there is a ban on the movement of any person around it.

University students are so scared that they are not ready to talk to anyone about the issue.