BENGALURU: After Wednesday’s clash between Jyothi Nivas College students and BJP Yuva Morcha workers, tensions have been high. The incident became the talk of the town on Thursday.
Following the clash, the students had planned a peaceful protest outside the campus, and invited students from various other colleges to join in. At 11 am on Thursday, a few students were in the process of getting permission from Isha Pant, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East). “A big crowd of 200-300 students had gathered, holding placards against the controversial act. But within a few minutes, local police shooed everyone away since prior permission was not granted,” a JNC student told TNIE.
“After we were asked to leave, a few faculty members intervened and we were given permission to conduct a silent protest between 2-3 pm inside the college premises. But that’s not enough for us. We want to voice our concerns and protest peacefully outside the campus,” another student of the college said. “We do not want to talk about CAA, NRC or anything political. Our only issue was party workers forcing us to sign the pro-CAA banner and heckling at us,” the student added.
A senior officer from the Kormangala police station said that cops have been deployed in the college area for three days to prevent any untoward incident.
“The students had approached me at 12-12.30 pm, but by that time, a conditional permit was given, and they had already started a silent protest inside the college premises. When we questioned the BJP workers, they refuted the claims,” Pant told TNIE. She was, however, unaware of the viral video where party workers were seen asking students to go to Pakistan. No cases have been registered so far.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said he has ordered an enquiry into the incident. Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai also said action will be taken against those who took the law into their own hands.