Lucknow, February 24 Police detained several people after tensions escalated on Tuesday at Lucknow University when members of the ABVP attempted to confront a recent offering of prayers by reciting the Hanuman Chalisa near the Laal Baradari mosque on campus.
According to officials, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) gathered near the Laal Baradari area and raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" while moving in groups inside the campus.
Visuals showed police repeatedly stopping the protesters from advancing further.
The protesters later sat on a road in front of the mosque and began reciting the Hanuman Chalisa, demanding the "purification" of the place where prayers were allegedly offered a few days ago.
Police intervened and detained some of the protesters, who were seated inside a bus parked on campus, and then taken to the police lines. Videos also showed a few protesters being forcibly removed from the campus.
A senior police officer present at the university said, "As of now, we are handling the situation. We will update you about the future course of action later."
Lucknow University Proctor Rakesh Dwivedi said, "We are talking to the students and will resolve this matter." When asked about the controversy surrounding the prayers, he said, "We have provided all the relevant information about the (prayers) controversy to the police."
When asked whether this meant that the police were seeking to register an FIR against those who offered prayers, he said, "It is for the police to take appropriate action. We have clearly communicated our position to the police on this matter."
The protest came a day after members of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) staged a demonstration alleging the closure of a place inside the university where Muslim students had been offering prayers for years.
Aryan Mishra, the vice president of NSUI's Uttar Pradesh unit, had claimed that the Laal Baradari mosque inside the university was locked on Saturday.
He said that Muslim students offered prayers there on Sunday evening, with NSUI volunteers guarding them.
Mishra said that Muslim students pray at the mosque while Hindu students offer prayers at a temple near gate number 1.
An ABVP office-bearer had earlier warned that if prayers were allowed inside the university campus, they too would chant the Hanuman Chalisa there.
Police maintained a heavy presence on campus on Tuesday to prevent any escalation, officials said. Visuals showed groups of youths marching inside the university premises and being stopped by security personnel at multiple points.
