M Hamid Ansari seeks action against AMU culprits

New Delhi: Breaking his silence, former vice president M Hamid Ansari on Saturday supported AMU students' demand for action against intruders who created ruckus on the varsity campus over Jinnah portrait issue on May 2, when he was present there for an event, and said their peaceful stir against the “transgression” is commendable.

The event where Mr Ansari was to be conferred the life membership of the Aligarh Muslim University students union was cancelled due to the alleged violence by right wing Hindu activists.

Mr Ansari, who has studied at AMU, said the disruption, its precise timing, and the “excuse manufactured for justifying it”, raises questions. “The peaceful protest by the (AMU) students against this transgression is commendable. They must ensure that it does not  interfere with their academic pursuits,” he said. “Their request that action be taken against the intruders and disruptors, after a judicial enquiry, is justified. The authorities of the AMU have made a similar request,” he said in a letter to AMU students union. He said the programme of the day, including an address by him on May 2 in the Kennedy Auditorium, was publicly known. The authorities concerned had been intimated and were cognisant of the arrangements including security for such occasions.