Sahmat statement re ABVP's assault on the Department of History, Delhi University

SAHMAT
8, Vithalbhai Patel House, Rafi Marg
New Delhi-110001
Telephone-23711276/ 23351424
e-mail-sahmat@vsnl.com

26.2.2008

The assault of the ABVP activists on the Department of History of the Delhi University and the manhandling of Professor S.Z.H. Jafri Head of the Department, and other acts of violence and vandalism committed by them must shock the entire academic community of the country. It is to be underlined that the article objected to by the ABVP was included in the 'Reading Materials' two years ago, and the raising of the issue only now seems prima-facie motivated, and designed to lend a communal colour to the question. While everyone is entitled to have his own opinion on the rationale or appropriateness of a particular part of the Reading Materials, such criticism should have been made in a civilized manner and addressed to the proper authorities.

If there were any students involved in the assault they should consider if their action has brought honour to their alma mater, one of the premier educational institutions of the country. We hope that authorities in charge of law and order and of discipline at the Delhi University would take all the necessary measures to ensure that the guilty are punished.

R.S.Sharma D.N.Jha V.Ramakrishna
Shireen Moosvi Ramkrishna Chatterjee B.P.Sahu
Aditya Mukherjee K.M.Shrimali Suraj Bhan
Irfan Habib Arjun Dev Iqtidar Alam Khan
Biswamoy Pati S.C.Mishra Suvira Jaiswal
R. Gopinath R.P.Bahuguna R.C.Thakran
G.P.Sharma Amar Farooqui R.P.Rana
H.C.Satyarthi Ishrat Alam Nalini Taneja
Najaf Haider Sohail Hashmi Malini Bhattacharya
Javed Alam Prabhat Patnaik C.P.Chandrasekhar
Utsa Patnaik Jayati Ghosh Ram Rahman
M.K.Raina Madangopal Singh Madhu Prasad
Shakti Kak Mihir Bhattacharya Suranjan Das
Lata Singh A. Murli Archana Prasad