The invitee, Srikanth Shetty Karkala, was a leader of the Right-wing outfit Hindu Jagarana Vedike who was booked for hate speech last year.
NSUI members of Mangalore University College - Hampankatte Campus ready with their memorandum
A two-day college fest at the Hampankatta Campus of the Mangalore University in Mangaluru was called off after the National Students Union of India (NSUI) butted heads with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for inviting a Right-wing activist as a chief guest for the college function.
The students of the college — especially those in the final year — are a disappointed lot now, unsure of whether the fest would even happen at all. Their final-semester exams are commencing next month.
“Though the college management has said that the Prathibha Diwas (Talent Day) and the College Day (Anniversary) have been postponed, it has not mentioned any new date. It is uncertain that the fest would happen, as we are also unsure if the management would invite another chief guest,” said a student of BA Journalism who wished to remain anonymous.
Students of the Hampankatte campus of Mangalore University had already practised and rehearsed for cultural events like dance, skits, singing, fashion parade and other literary items.
The college management initially fixed the dates for the college fest: Prathibha Diwas would be on 23 June, and College Day on 24 June, and had even sent out invitations.
“Sometime around last week, the ABVP members, who are at present a majority in the college, persuaded the college management to invite Right-wing activist Srikanth Shetty Karkala, and the management ended up inviting him,” NSUI Dakshina Kannada district president Suhan Alva told South First.
“Several students took objection to the ABVP inviting a communal speaker for a college function, and informed the members of the NSUI,” he added.
NSUI members of Mangalore University College – Hampankatte Campus giving memorandum to the Office of City Police Commissioner
Alva immediately brought this matter to the notice of the university’s vice-chancellor and the principal, but they were silent on it.
“We waited until Thursday morning for a decision from the college management for changing the chief guest, but there was no response. We members decided to approach the District Administration and the police to voice our grievance,” he said.
“On Thursday, we handed over a memorandum to the district commissioner and the Mangaluru City Police commissioner. We also told the police that hundreds of us would stage a sit-in protest in front of the gate of the college and will not allow the right-wing chief guest inside our college,” Alva told South First.
Subsequently, a group of senior police officials, along with personnel from the Anti-Communal Wing went to the college. There, they met and spoke with the college management and tried to bring about a truce between the NSUI members and the college management.
They reasoned that if the chief guest was not allowed to speak in public, then the college fest could go ahead without any issue.
However, NSUI members were adamant that they would not allow the speaker inside the college, and said they would besiege the college gate if he was let into the premises.
“The government has changed now. Why would the ABVP or the college management invite a communal speaker for our college function? Let them invite a poet, author, an academician, or anyone who is accomplished in their field,” said Alva.
“We are not against the college fest. Prathibha Diwas and College Day should happen in our college, but we do not want to listen to a chief guest who talks about only one community and instils hatred among students,” he added.
Sources from the college told South First that Srikanth Shetty Karkala was a Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) leader and a television reporter.
The Udupi police had booked him for hate speech on 2 October last year at a public event where he said: “During Ayudha Pooja, Hindus should not worship cycles, mixers, or grinders. They should worship weapons. Let us cultivate the mindset to use those weapons.”
He also targeted Muslim girls at the centre of the hijab controversy in Udupi last year.
The hijab controversy was also raked up at the Mangalore University fest last year, with ABVP members becoming the majority soon after the Campus Front of India (CFI) was banned along with the Popular Front of India.
“Earlier, the CFI and the NSUI — both of whom followed secular ideology — were in the majority. But now the ABVP has more clout, and that is the reason the college management is inclined towards them,” Alva explained.
“Around five-six months ago, RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat was invited to the college, and less than two years ago, RSS orator Chakravarti Sulibele was invited to the college to address students,” he said.
After all the drama, the college management, on Thursday evening, called off the fest and informed the students that the fest had been postponed.
ABVP district convenor for Mangalore University Shreyas Shetty said in response to the kerfuffle: “We are not a selected body by the college management. We are an elected body among 2,000 students of our college. And it was the student body’s decision to invite Srikanth Shetty Karkala as the chief guest of the college fest.”
He added: “The basic concept of democracy is being crushed at our college. Our stand is that the chief guest should not be changed. Even if the college is postponing the dates of the fests, the same chief guest — Srikanth Shetty Karkala — has to be invited again.”
Shetty continued: “Our students submitted a memorandum with the principal on Friday about this. And if the college management decides to change the chief guest, then we all will not only protest against this, but also boycott the fest.”
He also alleged: “The opposite party (NSUI) is attempting to break the equilibrium of the college.”
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