Was Trying to Boost Their Confidence: Purvanchal University V-C on the Backfoot After Inciting Students to Kill

Lucknow: After facing backlash on social media for inciting students to commit murder, Vice Chancellor of Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, Raja Ram Yadav, said his statement was intended to motivate students and boost their confidence.

In a video that went viral, Yadav was seen encouraging students not to hesitate to murder anyone they have an argument with.

“If you are a student of Purvanchal University, never come to me crying. If you get into a fight with someone, beat him, even kill him if you can, and then come, we will handle the matter,” Yadav was heard saying at a college event on Friday.

The incident comes at a time when the state is reeling from the murders of two cops, who were killed by violent mobs in separate incidents.

The V-C has since claimed that the media had distorted his remarks and that his full statement should be heard to ascertain his intentions.

“My statement was intended at motivating students and boosting their confidence. Fighting for one’s right, if he is correct, is not wrong. He should not pull back. I will keep filling fresh zeal in the students to make them brave in order that they can deal with the odds and work hard for achieving their goals,” Yadav told Hindustan Times.

Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district in 1957, Yadav was in Allahabad University’s physics department before he was appointed V-C of Purvanchal University by UP Governor Ram Naik in 2017, almost within a month of the BJP’s rise to power in the state.

The V-C’s social media posts say he is an RSS pracharak and has close ties with senior BJP leaders.

Slamming Yadav for “inciting violence”, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said, “The vice-chancellor must be booked for inciting and provoking students to indulge in criminal activities. He is not behaving like a vice-chancellor but as the warlord of a criminal gang. We cannot expect academic excellence from such criminal-minded people. He should be sacked for making such statements.”

Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi, too, demanded that Yadav be removed from his post immediately, “If a V-C level person will say such things, what will the students do? I think he should be sacked immediately. Already, the law and order situation is at an all-time low in the state. Action should be taken against him.”

Taking cognizance of the inflammatory statement made by the V-C, the Uttar Pradesh government has asked him to present his side of the story.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, who also holds the higher education portfolio, told PTI: “I have asked the vice-chancellor to present his side of the video, which has gone viral on various social media platforms.”