Aligarh/Thane: A day after Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan faced unprecedented protests from some delegates during his speech at the Indian History Congress, members of Aligarh Society of History and Archaeology (ASHA) on Sunday alleged use of force on IHC members and condemned it.
The incident happened at Kannur University when the Kerala governor was making his opening address during the inauguration of the 80th Session of the Indian History Congress. Some delegates protested after Khan spoke on the anti-CAA agitation in various parts of the country.
“You have every right to protest. But you cannot shout me down, Khan said repeatedly to the delegates protesting inside the auditorium.
“When you shut the door for debate and discussion, you promote violence,” he stressed.
Some delegates, however, shouted “Kerala Governor, Shame Shame”. Some students from universities outside the state were seen raising slogans and were removed by police. A woman delegate, who was taken away in a police jeep, alleged the personnel were pushing them.
On Sunday, Aligarh Society of History and Archaeology (ASHA) said historian Irfan Habib, who was on the stage in the capacity of being the outgoing president of the IHC, proceeded “to request the governor to refrain from turning IHC into his political arena” when the protests began.
“As soon as Professor Habib went there, the ADC and the security officer of the Governor pushed him and tried to stop him. The governor too started accusing Habib of trying to stop him from speaking,” ASHA said in a statement.
It said its members also condemn the “stifling the democratic voices and our right to protest”.
“We further condemn the way the Constitution of India is being effectively dismantled through acts like CAA. We also condemn the force used on the members of the Indian History Congress which is the largest body of professional historians of India and attempts to detain some of its members who were protesting peacefully,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, on Sunday condemned the incident in which Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan faced protests during his opening address at the Indian History Congress (IHC) at Kannur on Saturday.
The 54th Konkan Pradesh Adhiveshan of the ABVP is currently going on in the city.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, ABVP’s Konkan unit secretary Prerna Pawar said, “We strongly condemn the incident in which the Kerala governor faced protests during his speech on Saturday.”
“Disrupting the speech of the governor, who holds a constitutional post, is wrong,” she said.
Pawar also said the ABVP will undertake a “massive campaign” to create awareness about the provisions of the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
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