The University of Hyderabad (UoH) continued to remain on the boil on Monday, after students from the ABVP marched from the newly established 'Kargil Chowk' to the North Gate of the varsity.
"It is very surprising that people are divided on the issue and are calling us pseudo-nationalists. We want to know from them what's their idea of nationalism? For us it is very painful to see our martyrs, who have sacrificed their lives for the nation, being disrespected this way and we demand an apology from vice-chancellor P Appa Rao for insulting Kargil martyrs," P Karan, President, ABVP, UoH told the Times of India.
In a tribute to Kargil martyrs, ABVP had set up a temporary bust on July 26, which was removed by the authorities, as they had not taken permission.
This led to an altercation between the security staff and the ABVP, following which the students returned, and fixed a permanent structure at South Shopping Complex in the campus.
The ABVP released a poster on Saturday with three questions: How many times did the University pay tribute on Kargil Diwas? Why the liberals in the campus discuss only Yakub Memon and Afzal Guru and not war heroes like Captain Vikram Batra or Grenadier Yogendra Singh? Why other stupas or memories of resistance spared and not nationalist symbols?
It has also demanded the installation of a 200-feet national flag and a wall dedicated to martyrs to instill nationalism among students in the university.
However, the university has maintained that the memorial is an illegal structure, that was set up without permission.
"The university plans to remove all unauthorised structures from the campus soon. There were no cases filed against anyone, and the administration will solve the problem within its purview," Chief Security Officer T V Rao, had earlier told TNM.
Other student groups on campus have also criticised the move of the ABVP, dubbing it 'politics', and 'pseudo-nationalism'.