Protests, banners greet Bastar ex-top cop at IIMC
As he walked up on stage at the IIMC auditorium on Saturday afternoon, IPS officer SRP Kalluri was greeted with chants of ‘Jai Shree Ram’. Outside the institute there were student groups chanting slogans in protest.
The IPS officer described his appearance as his ‘launch’ in Delhi. Earlier this year, the top cop was transferred out of Bastar on allegations of human right’s violations and threatening journalists.
IPS officer Kalluri has had a controversial tenure as inspector general of police in Bastar.
Kalluri was transferred out of the Maoist stronghold earlier this year after allegations against of human right’s violations and threatening journalists surfaced against him.
“Go to Bastar. There are 40 lakh people there. If more than five people say anything against me, I will quit. This is my launch in Delhi,” Kalluri, who was in Delhi to deliver a talk during the seminar on Nationalistic Journalism in Current Scenario: Media and Myth, said.
In the morning, chaos ensued outside at the IIMC campus, located right next to JNU, as some students alleged they were not being allowed to enter. Amid heavy police security, students later protested outside the campus gates as the day-long seminar continued inside the campus.
IIMC director general KG Suresh had earlier brushed away criticisms over Kalluri’s invite.
“Why should I stop him? He is coming to an event that will see the presence of media personnel who will question him,” Suresh in his address in the seminar.
Protesters outside the IIMC gate, meanwhile, held up posters and placards outside the IIMC gate that read ‘Kalluri go back’. They demanded that the IPS officer go on a ‘long leave’ till the completion of a probe .
There were around 20-25 police personnel on the campus on Saturday.
Accusing the organisers of not allowing students to attend the session, Dipankar Patel, a student, said, “We too want to know what this nationalistic journalism is.”
“We will oppose this forced saffronisation. We are 15-20 in number but were not being to enter,” said Sachin Shekhar, another student. The students were also agitating against a yajna (a ritual done in front of a fire, with mantras), which started the seminar.
One of the organisers told HT that the yajna was done as per schedule. “Instead of lighting a lamp, we did a yajna. What is wrong in that?” he said.
The IIMC director general, too, defended the move. “Because of the ritual, there was talk that secularism of the country was in danger. But people don’t know that we have accommodated all religions,” Suresh said.
One of the organisers even went on to claim that most protesters were not students of the institute. “Most protesters are external elements from JNU,” said Praveen, one of the organisers.