Jalandhar, Sep 30 (PTI) Lovely Professional University (LPU) founder-chancellor Ashok Mittal on Wednesday said there is a “big conspiracy” behind the violence on the varsity campus.
It was Mittal’s first reaction since protests rocked the LPU in Phagwara over the alleged rape of a female student on the campus.
The Rajya Sabha MP said, “Absolutely, there is some conspiracy behind it.”
He was speaking to reporters at a rally in Jalandhar addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the culmination of BJP’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra.’
“I have less concern for LPU. I have concerns for my Punjab, which is a border state,” Mittal said when asked about the extent of damage to the campus property.
“Why did it happen in the border state, and who did it? I have a concern for national security — who was behind it and who let it happen,” said the BJP leader who was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party.
Mittal claimed that the rape was alleged to defame Punjab and the LPU.
“There is no victim. No victim has been found yet,” he asserted.
He said that students, whom he called “sincere and committed”, were provoked to join the protest.
“We will examine all points on our own and where need arises, will take help of governments so the right thing comes to the fore,” he said.
Mittal also slammed the incident in which a protester climbed atop a decommissioned MiG-23UM aircraft installed on the campus, while a few mounted a military tank.
“They climbed atop a MiG-23 and a tank. They insulted the country and brave soldiers, he said.
Mittal said that before LPU, a protest was also held at Chitkara University. “It is a matter of Punjab’s security. I am more afraid that Punjab is not safe. My Punjab should remain safe. It is a border state.”
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a CBI probe into the vandalism and violence at Lovely Professional University.
The high court on Wednesday sought a status report from the Punjab government on a probe into the LPU matter.
On Sunday, LPU students held a massive protest and blocked a stretch of the New Delhi-Amritsar Highway outside the campus.
There has been an allegation that an outsider raped a female student on the university premises and the administration hushed up the matter.
Students also claimed that some outsiders with their faces covered damaged property, ransacked shops and set several places on fire on the campus.
The police have filed a rape case on the complaint of students and booked unidentified persons over violence and arson.
On Monday, a large number of students headed home following the suspension of classes for 10 days, leaving calm in their wake after days of unrest. PTI CHS VN
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