Mumbai/Pune: Members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP youth wing, allegedly vandalised a food stall representing Bangladesh at the World Cultural Festival at MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU) in Pune.
The incident happened Tuesday evening during the annual cultural event. The next day, they also painted a Bangladeshi flag outside the campus and stepped on it.
The annual event celebrates diversity under the theme ‘One World. Many Cultures. One Celebration’. Organised by Indian and international students, it features food stalls, cultural performances and exhibits. Stalls representing several countries were part of the festival.
Some students alleged the BJYM activists allegedly entered the MIT-WPU campus in Kothrud, about 10 km from the Pune city, without any entry or identity pass.
“Those men did not have ID cards. They were not students of the university, but they still entered the campus. And when they were attacking the Bangladeshi students and vandalising the stalls, the watchmen did nothing,” an international student present at the festival told ThePrint.
In an official statement, MIT-WPU Registrar Ganesh Pokale said the university is treating the matter seriously.
“An unfortunate incident occurred during the World Cultural Festival. Preliminary information indicates that certain unauthorised individuals entered the premises. The University is in the process of lodging a formal complaint with the police.”
He said the World Cultural Festival is an annual university event held to celebrate cultural diversity and provide a platform for international students. “The university remains committed to ensuring a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all.”
Speaking to ThePrint, BJYM city president Dushyant Mohol said they acted after they received a letter from students that the Bangladeshi flag was being used at the food stall. The same letter was also submitted to the organising committee, but the “university did nothing about it”.
“We did not have an issue with the stall, only the flags being used. Instead of taking that one flag down, they put up another flag and provoked us. That’s why we acted on it,” he told ThePrint. “If we are (called) goons for protecting our Bharat Mata, so be it.”
“If something like this happens in the future, we will continue to take action, and we are ready for whatever consequences come. The college is said to take legal action. If they do, then we will also serve a legal notice. Whatever it is, we will give the answer. This is Pune, we will not let it turn into JNU,” said Mohol.
An inspector at the Kothrud Police Station told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that they are aware of the incident. “But there has not been any complaint filed at the police station yet, therefore our investigation into the matter has not yet begun.”
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The vandalism
A purported video of the incident shows how the attackers vandalised the stall and also attacked students there. Mohol also shared a video of the incident that shows him and others setting fire to a small Bangladeshis flag that they found at the festival.
The international student quoted above said, “A group of 30 young men came at around 6.30 pm and they headed toward the Bangladesh stall and broke everything while chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jay’ or something like this. When we tried to stop them, they told us they would attack us if we tried. They were also burning Bangladesh flags.”
He further claimed the vandals were looking for all Bangladeshi students, and also charged towards a girl “who was taken away by other international students who kept her safe”.
“They were coming towards her. But we, boys, took her to the international centre in college. She was terrified. The next morning, they closed the college gates, stood outside and said that no Bangladeshis will enter,” the international student told ThePrint.
The girl has refused to talk to anyone since the incident.
On Wednesday morning, the BJYM activists allegedly marched towards the university, carrying Indian flags and closed the gates.
They allegedly painted the Bangladeshi flag on the road outside the gate and were seen stepping on it. Multiple videos of them holding the Indian flags while they stood over the painted flag of Bangladesh on the street are making the rounds on social media.
“Our intentions were clear. We requested and told them (the organisers) that you can showcase all other countries and their cultures but not Bangladesh’s,” Mohol told ThePrint, referring to the killing of Bangladeshi Hindu man Deepu Chandra Das in a targeted attack in Dhaka on 18 December 2025.
Mohol said his problem is not with any student.
“They should all come here and study, but the flag of a country that has committed atrocities against us, like the one on our brother Deepu Chandra Das, who was publicly assaulted and burned alive, their flag should not have been displayed,” Mohol said.
There was also a controversy related to some international students performing cultural dance with swords that they claim to have received permission from the university for.
Raising concern over the use of swords at cultural events, 21-year-old first year MBA student Rudra Birhade said, “We see this as a threat. We tried to ask the management who gave them permission, but we have received no reply… our issue is how they can dance on stage with swords. You can display your literature and food, but dancing with swords at MIT Peace University is absolutely wrong.”
One of the students who wishes to stay anonymous told ThePrint, “During the performance, we danced, and in our country we dance with swords, so we brought fake swords to just show our culture, and we took permission from the college as well.”
Rudra Birhade had also written to the university authorities about the Bangladeshi flag issue.
“We have no issues with Bangladeshis, or any international students personally. Only the stall was vandalised after we peacefully asked them to take their flag down.
“We did not touch them (the students at the stall). They claimed that we attacked a girl. There was a girl from Dhaka, yes, but we did not even walk towards her. Would our flag ever be allowed in their country? No, never,” Rudra told ThePrint.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)