Sikhs join protests against demolition of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in UP
SP leader says university is being targeted out of vendetta
New Delhi: Members of the Sikh community joined protests against the proposed demolition of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, expressing solidarity with students and saying the authorities are targeting the institution out of political vendetta.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the protest was led by Samajwadi Party (SP) National Secretary Kuldeep Singh Bhullar, who, along with a large number of Sikh community members, demonstrated against the move to demolish 38 of the university’s 40 buildings.
Addressing the protesters, Bhullar said that the university was being targeted out of “malice” despite having been legally established. He said Sikh community members had visited the campus to express solidarity with students and vowed to oppose any attempt to demolish what he described as a “temple of education.”
Bhullar maintained that the university had been built on Gram Samaj (village community) land after obtaining the required approvals. He said that the authorities were pursuing the demolition out of a spirit of vendetta, adding that the Sikh community would not allow the institution to be destroyed.
He said Samajwadi Party workers were staging protests across different districts against the demolition order and pledged that every effort would be made to save the university.
Meanwhile, students’ protests entered the fifth consecutive day, with demonstrators demanding that the Rampur Development Authority withdraw its order to demolish 38 of the university’s 40 buildings.
