Violence on university campuses should be avoided: UGC chairman

Jagadesh Kumar, who was JNU vice chancellor before holding the top post at the UGC, was referring to the recent clash between two students group at the university

Violence of any kind on university campuses should be avoided, UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said on Tuesday, referring to the recent clash between two students group at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here.

The violence took place at the varsity's Kaveri Hostel on Sunday allegedly over serving of non-vegetarian food on Ram Navami in its mess, with police saying 20 students were injured in the clash.

"Any kind of violence on university campuses should be avoided," Kumar said at a press conference in response to a question about the JNU incident.

The two students groups on Monday lodged police complaints against each other, while JNU authorities claimed the violence occurred after some students objected to a 'hawan', an assertion also made by RSS-affiliate ABVP.

Mr. Kumar who was JNU vice chancellor before holding the top post at the UGC, said, "every university has standard procedures in place to act in cases of violence on campus and conduct proctorial enquiries".

Earlier, in the day the Ministry of Education sought a report from JNU on the issue.