UNHOLI

UNHOLI


Police cane students outside Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College for celebrating the festival of colours .... SAMEER RANJAN BAKSHI
Nothing could be more absurd. Police disrupted Holi celebrations outside Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College in V V Puram, the ostensible reasons being that the students didn’t have a proper licence and that girls were being harassed. Now, the former is laughable, while the latter seems to be some kind of belated response from our much frustrated cops after the moral police have, of late, been so consistently stealing their thunder.
Since Tuesday morning, cops in mufti were hovering around Kavi Lakshmishaa Road. Soon they were joined by their uniformed colleagues. As the students started getting into their stride, the cops too started getting busy. After some heated altercations with the students, the cops began caning them. Some of them were bundled into jeeps and taken to the nearest police station. The cops’ contention was: The Holi revellers were creating nuisance on a public road. But the students had a ready retort: Where and how else do we celebrate the festival of colours?
While, at R V Engineering College it’s the college authorities who play spoilsport HEMANTH KASHYAP & M K ASHOKA
At R V Engineering College, students started celebrating Holi quite early on Wednesday. It began in the hostel premises. But after a certain point, the warden ordered the students to go out of the hostel and celebrate. The students then proceeded to the campus and soon it was fun and frolic all over the place. However, it did not take much time for the Principal’s office to take objection.
The students who were mainly indulging in some harmless, if slightly noisy, passtime were literally driven out of the campus and the gates were locked. It did not bother them much as they continued their celebrations outside the campus on Mysore Road near the entrance of the college.
A group of about 25 students, from 1st to 8th semesters, were involved. It seems some outsiders joined the revellers and eggs were allegedly thrown at girls inside the campus. Police caning at Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College ...
The police-students argument reached the boiling point when one of the cops abused a student, saying something about her mother. The student said something back and a minor scuffle broke out. The cops claimed that it was all because the students were adamant despite the cops repeatedly telling them that they should have a licence (the one needed for public entertainment) to play Holi on the road. At Central police station, the cops told Bangalore Mirror that the guys were arrested because they had been “touching the girls”.
One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “ The cops asked me my mobile phone, hit me and took me in their jeep to the station. But seeing you press people, the cops let us free.” Two girls, who also didn’t want to be named, said, “The cops were ruthless as they caned and abused the guys. They behaved roughly with the girls.”
A journalism student of NMKRV college said, “They simply were not allowing us to play and use colours. They were forcing us to go back to our homes and play Holi. It’s a part of the game where everybody has to come out and put some colour on their friends and relatives. It is a festival where people have fun.” Satish Krishnan, another student, said, “ The cops should do other important duties, rather than stopping us from playing Holi. They simply want money. They often whisk away college students in their jeeps and ask for money. After taking money, they let them free.”
Joint Commissioner of Police, Alok Kumar, said, “I will look into the matter and solve the case immediately.” Soon after his intervention all the students were let free.
R V Engineering College authorities play spoilsport ...
The college management sensed that the situation could get out of hand and called the Jnanabharathi police. The police rushed to the spot in jeeps, on ‘Cheetahs’ (two-wheeler patrols) and started dispersing the students. The panic stricken students ran helter-skelter. Some of them fled on their bikes along Mysore Road. All of them were soon hauled by the cops and brought back to the campus and photographed.
INDISCIPLINE, SAYS
PRINCIPAL
The revellers were brought before the Principal, Dr S C Sharma. The students were made to pose for a photograph again and then let off after being warned. When contacted, Sharma said: “Other college students, including those from BMS, started playing Holi outside the entrance and we let them do it. But, all of a sudden they started throwing eggs. This is a disciplined place and we didn’t want that to happen here. Though we informed the police, we know it’s their age that takes over during such celebrations as Holi and so the students were let off later.”
“Vandalism in the campus is not permissible. If they want to celebrate Holi, let them do it in the hostel campus. It should not be brought to the college campus and it’s not tolerable. There is no place for Holi celebrations here,” he added. However, the incident did not dampen the spirits of students and they were seen celebrating outside the campus.