The students of Bangalore University (BU) have alleged that the ruling BJP government was trying to safranize the university campus by allowing the construction of a Ganesha temple on campus.
The students have been protesting against the construction for three days. The matter took a serious turn when university officials filed a police complaint against the protesting students.
dr. Jayakara Shetty, vice chancellor of Bangalore University, has stated that the decision to build the temple was not taken during his tenure. “The decision had been made earlier and construction work has now started. The students cannot protest about the temple issue,’ he said.
Shetty had ordered the temple’s construction to be halted amid student protests. However, as the construction work continued, he visited the site and had the work halted.
The students and organizations, including Naija Horatagarara Vedike, Post-Graduation and Research Students’ Federation, have warned university officials that if they proceeded with the construction of the temple, they would file a police charge against them. Student organizations are also outraged at the filing of a police complaint over attempted conservation of university property.
The inciting students claim it was an attempt to saffronize the campus and implement a “hidden agenda” by the ruling BJP. The students said the UGC guidelines and the law did not allow the construction of places of religious worship such as temples, churches and mosques.
The university officials said the Ganesha Temple, which stood at the entrance, was demolished a few years ago for road widening. Bangalore University had then entered into an agreement with the BBMP to move the temple to the campus grounds.
Sources in the Higher Education Department stated that the temple would be built on campus at any cost and that the protests were part of a conspiracy by the opposition parties and anti-Hindu forces. However, hundreds of students openly challenged that they would not allow the temple to be placed on campus.
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