BHU incident: Cong demands probe by all-party parliamentary

New Delhi:  The Congress today demanded a thorough inquiry into the lathi-charge on women students of Banaras Hindu University by an all-party parliamentary panel. Uttar Pradesh Congress president Raj Babbar also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not meeting the protesting women students of BHU, who were beaten up by the police.

He said the women students were like the prime minister’s daughters and that Modi failed in his duties towards them. “There should be a credible probe by a team of MPs from all parties who should visit BHU and give a report to the central government as the university comes under its purview,” he told reporters.

“Our prime minister was in Varanasi when the students were staging a dharna and he should have come … at least walked up to them as they were like his daughters. Perhaps he does not know how to fulfil the duties of a father,” he said. Babbar alleged that there was a “definite pattern” in the violence at BHU.

He said the BHU lathicharge was not an ordinary incident and such cases were witnessed in Hyderabad and JNU as well. The Congress leader said the women students were beaten up on Daughters’ Day on September 14.

A number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in the police action in BHU where a protest on Saturday night against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent. The violence erupted after some students, protesting the incident on Thursday, wanted to meet the varsity’s vice- chancellor at his residence.