Student Groups Clash In Jamia During Diwali Celebrations

New Delhi: A scuffle broke out between two groups of students during Diwali celebrations at Jamia Millia Islamia University here, following which police personnel were deployed outside its gates as a precautionary measure, officials said on Wednesday.

A police officer said no complaint has been received in connection with the incident which took place on Tuesday night. The Diwali event was organised by the Rashtriya Kala Manch (RKM), a dimension of RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the university. The ABVP said it will hold a ‘deep mahotsav’ again on Wednesday evening. Calls and messages to Jamia Millia Islamia University’s Officiating Vice Chancellor Mohammad Shakeel went unanswered. According to police, the scuffle broke out after a group of students disrupted Diwali celebrations by another.

The situation was brought under control and the students dispersed following the intervention of university security personnel. Purported videos of students chanting “communal” slogans inside the campus are doing the rounds on social media.