New Delhi: The Congress-affiliated NSUI on Thursday said it blackened the bust of Veer Savarkar and garlanded those of Bhagat Singh and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Delhi University.
The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad-led Delhi University Students' Union had installed the busts outside the Arts Faculty building inside the DU campus on Tuesday.
The National Students' Union of India and the Left-backed All India Students' Association had criticised the move, saying Savarkar cannot be on the same pedestal as Bose and Singh. In a video of the incident, NSUI Delhi wing president Akshay Lakra can be seen garlanding the busts of Bose and Singh and bowing before them. He then removes the garlands around Savarkar's bust and puts a garland of shoes around it despite being stopped by security personnel.
Lakra then blackens the bust and shouts 'Bhagat Singh zindabad' and 'NSUI zindabad'.
"How could they put the bust of Savarkar alongside Bose and Bhagat Singh, that too overnight. We had to take the matter into our hands. The university administration has been silent on the issue. The varsity is working at the behest of ABVP," Lakra alleged.
The ABVP termed it a "heinous act".
"The humiliation by the NSUI of the statue of Veer Savarkar at Delhi University is a heinous act and such an act for trivial political interests reflects Congress's thinking towards the great freedom fighter of India," said Monika Chaudhary, national media convenor, ABVP.