Mumbai: Ten students of Wardha’s Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya were suspended Tuesday 11 November, for “unauthorised gathering” and raising allegedly derogatory slogans against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
On 6 November, Aditi Mishra was elected president of Delhi’s JNU Student’s Union defeating Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s Vikas Patel. Late that night, students of the Wardha university celebrated the victory, where they allegedly chanted slogans like “sorry, sorry Savarkar” and “RSS ka chota bandar—bal Narendra, bal Narendra”.
A video of the celebration showed 10-12 students, including NSUI unit president and vice president.
Explaining the two slogans that were chanted, NSUI unit president Dhananjay Singh told ThePrint: “Sorry, sorry Savarkar was a taunt directed towards the ideologue in context of the apology letters written by him to the British during his time in jail, while RSS ka chota bandar, Bal Narendra, Bal Narendra, was a satirical remark indicating that Prime Minister Modi dances to the tunes of the RSS.”
The ABVP filed a complaint at the university and at the Ramnagar police station in Wardha. The university first sent the students a show cause notice, and Tuesday suspended 10 students.
A unit member of the ABVP and fellow student at the Vishwavidyalaya who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint, “We at the Vidyarthi Parishad view this as a direct attack on the dignity, discipline and respect of national heroes. We filed a complaint with the university administration stating our displeasure. We believe the university will take the correct actions against these students.”
ThePrint reached out to Kumud Sharma, Vice Chancellor of the Vishwavidyalaya on phone, but she said: “I will not be able to answer any questions at the time,” she said.
What led to suspensions?
On Thursday 6 November, after Aditi Mishra won the JNUSU elections, a few students of Wardha’s Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya decided to celebrate. Speaking to ThePrint, Dhananjay Singh said, “We were eight of us, just wrapping up dinner in the hostel mess after the JNUSU election results were announced. We took out our daflis (tambourines) and started walking around the hostel premises, singing songs and chanting slogans.”
The next day, university proctor Dr Rakesh Kumar Mishra wrote to six students stating that the rally was an unauthorised gathering and included chants insulting the dignity of great men.
“It has come to our notice that on the night of November 6, 2025, you had gathered students in the university hostel premises in an unauthorised manner and without informing the administration, taken out a procession and raised slogans which also included derogatory slogans insulting the dignity of great men,” the letter read.
Proctor Rakesh Mishra told ThePrint that they were unaware of the students’ gathering and rally. They called for a meeting of the board of administrators the next day after a video of students sloganeering went viral on campus. “The video was closely viewed in the meeting, and we decided to give the students a chance to explain themselves. I sent out a letter to them and gave them three days to respond with an explanation before strict actions are taken against them,” he said.
On Monday 10 November, the six students submitted a letter to the university administration explaining their actions and requesting the university to refrain from stricter steps. The following day, students were informed of a complaint filed at the local police station.
Wardha’s Ramnagar police station had filed a non-cognisable report after complainant Budhdas Sukhdev Mirge, a 56-year-old businessman stated: “Students… had gone to the hostel premises of M.G.A.H.V. (university) by raising slogans like Sorry Sorry Savarkar and RSS ka chota bandar-bal Narendra, bal Narendra.”
It further added, “By raising these slogans against respected great men, they have maligned their reputation and insulted them… necessary action should be taken against the above-mentioned persons.”
Proctor Rakesh Mishra told ThePrint, “We will find a way to help the students if an FIR is filed against them.” Following this, late evening on Tuesday, the six students along with four others were served a 14-day suspension notice effectively immediately.
Former student of the Vishwavidyalaya, Vivek Mishra who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Delhi’s Ambedkar Vishwavidyalaya told ThePrint that this was not the first time the university had shown such “prejudice”.
“Members of ABVP often involve people from RSS and VHP to deal with campus matters. This was a university matter, but a complaint was filed at the local police station. The ABVP routinely seeks help from the RSS and VHP and gets students beaten up outside the college gate. I had been a victim of this last year,” said Vivek.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: JNU—the making and unmaking of an Indian university