Pune: The Principal of Fergusson College, who had asked police to take action against those who “raised anti-national slogans” on the campus during a verbal clash between two students’ groups, retracted his statement on Wednesday, saying he had only meant to seek a probe to find out if such slogans were raised or not. With the issue sparking a row, the principal was summoned by state Education Mininster Vinod Tawde to give an explanation on the incident.
Principal R. G. Pardeshi on Tuesday had dashed off a letter to police alleging that “anti-national slogans” were raised during heated exch-anges between the two groups when JNU ABVP president Alok Singh was to address students to explain “Truth of JNU” on the Kanhaiya Kumar episode. “I request you to take stern action aga-inst individuals who raised anti-national slogans on the campus,” Pardeshi said in letter to the police which he subsequently withdrew. Pardeshi said on Wednesday that the letter had a “typographical error” and what he meant was a request to police to investigate the matter.
