Students and faculty at Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi campus continued to protest on Thursday against the construction of a Ganesha temple inside its premises.
On Friday, teachers and hundreds of students gathered near the Administrative Block and demanded the university authorities withdraw the permission provided to construct the temple, which is the replacement of an old one that was demolished due to road widening work.
According to reports, the temple is being unofficially run by private authorities inside the campus and was not audited by BU.
The students have even decided to file a complaint before the governor, chief secretary and BBMP chief commissioner demanding action against the BBMP engineer in charge of the construction work.
The engineer had filed a police complaint against the faculty and students, allegedly calling them “miscreants”.
They also said that despite the university issuing directions to stop the temple construction work, BBMP authorities did not stop. But Vice-Chancellor Dr Jayakara S M visited the spot and asked the authorities to stop the construction work, the Deccan Herald reported.
The students are not against the construction of the temple, but instead of a new temple, authorised laboratories would be more helpful for them.
On Thursday, the students reached the spot where the government is constructing the temple and urged authorities to stop the work. “Let them build a library for students instead,” a student said.
Meanwhile, some activists have also questioned the BU, citing the constitution, which says there is no provision for any religious structure on the premises of an educational institution, and demanded the university stop the temple construction.
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
