The move is aimed at countering what is alleged ‘misinformation’ by the university against the sangh.
New Delhi: The RSS, which is quietly making inroads into Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, has now written to its vice-chancellor for permission to organise shakhas on campus.
The move is aimed at countering what is alleged to be “misinformation” by the university against the sangh.
“There is a dire need for the students to know the truth about the RSS. Many students are giving baseless statements against the organisation and spreading misinformation,” Amir Rasheed, an RSS activist, said in a letter written Thursday.
While the RSS performs social work without any discrimination on the basis of religion, the perception of AMU students about the organisation is distorted and misleading, Rashid wrote.
“The students on the other side have been making baseless statements about how RSS shakhas breed terrorists…so we’re saying let’s have a shakha here, so you can see what we do,” Rashid said.
He is in touch with BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on the issue, and the two may initiate talks with the HRD ministry soon, Rashid said. “I will be coming to Delhi tomorrow…We are trying to build pressure,” he added.
Swamy faced severe criticism from students of AMU — India’s oldest Muslim university — after a recent remark dubbing the university as a “hub of terrorists and extremist ideologies”.
Angry students not only demanded that Swamy be removed from the upper house of Parliament, but made allegations that it is in fact the RSS which breeds terror, Rashid said.
The AMU administration has so far not responded to the letter. Vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor told ThePrint, “I am not in Aligarh right now…I have no idea about this.”
However, students at AMU reacted unfavourably to the move, calling it “insidious RSS agenda”. “They (RSS) have always tried to spread their ideology through institutions…From JNU to AMU, it is the same story,” said Nadeem Ansari, a former students union member.
“It is all just a publicity stunt,” he added.
Students on the campus are also of the view that several attempts have been made over the past few years to change the minority character of AMU as ThePrint reported in March this year.