The Editors Guild of India in a statement on Saturday condemned "the blatant acts of intimidation and threats to Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor of The Wire, by student members of the ABVP in Allahabad University that forced the police to intervene to escort him to safety."

The incident took place last Wednesday when Varadarajan had gone to the university along with AU student union president Richa Singh to meet VC RL Hangloo, after he was refused permission by AU authorities to address a symposium at the Senate hall of the Arts campus.

Varadarajan had to speak at Swaraj Bhavan, outside the varsity campus.

When he was at the VC’s office, protesting ABVP members and office-bearers of the AU student union prevented him from leaving the office for almost half an hour, and the matter was resolved only after the intervention of the police.

"This journalist is pro-naxal and speaks the language of anti-nationals, so he should not be allowed to speak or enter AU campus. If Yogi Adityanath was not allowed to enter or speak inside the varsity campus, why is this journalist allowed to enter the campus," ABVP member Yashwant Singh Rana was quoted as saying.

"For a senior journalist to be threatened in such a manner at a leading university is deplorable. It is a brazen attack on freedom of expression, and the Editors Guild of India finds this mob mentality to silence those with divergent views unacceptable," the Editors Guild statement said.