Tension grips Andhra University after clashes between student organisations

Visakhapatnam: Tension mounted on the Andhra University campus following clashes between student organisations Akhila Bharateya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), affiliated to BJP, and the Student Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Federation (AISF), affiliated to Communist parties. Tension prevailed for the third consecutive day on Friday in AU when ABVP gave a call for a protest. The University Management issued emergency orders that no religious or political meetings, rallies or meetings were allowed on the campus. Along with AU security, local law and order police were also pressed into action to control the situation in AU.It is recalled that clashes between those organizations flared up when ABVP conducted an RSS program at the basketball ground in front of the Law College on Tuesday night. The SFI student wing allegedly tried to stop the program, alleging that ABVP conducted religious programmes. Security staff intervened and separated the warring groups. ABVP staged a protest at the Vice Chancellor's Office on Wednesday, while SFI and AISF staged a protest on Thursday.The student organizations did not listen to the AU Vice Chancellor's instructions and attempted to stage protests. Registrar Prof K Rambabu held a meeting with student organizations and advised them not to get involved in any kind of clashes. BJP State President PVN Madhav, in a statement, said that student wings affiliated to Communist parties tried to provoke ABVP, which organized RSS Sakha programmes.