Statement on the attack on Delhi University History Department The assault of the ABVP activists on the Department of History of the Delhi University and the manhandling of Professor S.Z.H. Jafri Head of the Department, and other acts of violence and vandalism committed by them must shock the entire academic community of the country. It is to be underlined that the article objected to by the ABVP was included in the 'Reading Materials' two years ago, and the raising of the issue only now seems prima-facie motivated, and designed to lend a communal colour to the question. While everyone is entitled to have his own opinion on the rationale or appropriateness of a particular part of the Reading Materials, such criticism should have been made in a civilized manner and addressed to the proper authorities. If there were any students involved in the assault they should consider if their action has brought honour to their alma mater, one of the premier educational institutions of the country. We hope that authorities in charge of law and order and of discipline at the Delhi University would take all the necessary measures to ensure that the guilty are punished. R.S.Sharma, D.N.Jha, V.Ramakrishna, Shireen Moosvi, Ramkrishna Chatterjee, B.P.Sahu, Aditya Mukherjee, K.M.Shrimali, Suraj Bhan, Irfan Habib, Arjun Dev, Iqtidar Alam Khan, Biswamoy Pati, S.C.Mishra, Suvira Jaiswal, R. Gopinath, R.P.Bahuguna, R.C.Thakran, G.P.Sharma, Amar Farooqui, R.P.Rana, H.C.Satyarthi, Ishrat Alam, Nalini Taneja, Najaf Haider, Sohail Hashmi, Malini Bhattacharya, Javed Alam, Prabhat Patnaik, C.P.Chandrasekhar, Utsa Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh, Ram Rahman, M.K.Raina, Madangopal Singh, Madhu Prasad, Shakti Kak, Mihir Bhattacharya, Suranjan Das, Lata Singh, A. Murli, Archana Prasad, S. Kalidas, Amiya Bagchi, Vishwamohan Jha, Badri Raina |