Mangaluru: Condemning the ABVP protest in front of St Agnes College over the conduct of examinations during Dasara, MLC Ivan D’Souza and KPCC spokesperson AC Vinayaraj alleged that BJP MLAs D Vedavyas Kamath and Dr Y Bharath Shetty had orchestrated the protest.D’Souza challenged Kamath to prove his allegations or apologise. He accused Kamath of falsely claiming that district minister UT Khader and D’Souza were responsible for police action against protesting students. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, D’Souza said ABVP activists suddenly tried to lay siege to the college while examinations were underway, prompting police to detain them to maintain law and order. He denied any involvement in the police action.He also questioned the conduct of Kamath, Shetty and MLC Kishore Kumar Puttur, who visited Mangaluru East Police Station after the incident and made statements against the college management. He urged BJP leaders to stop targeting educational institutions on religious grounds and making false claims. At a separate news conference, Vinayaraj disputed Kamath’s claim that ABVP workers had gone to the college merely to submit a memorandum.He alleged that St Agnes College was targeted because it is run by Christian nuns. The institution, he said, has provided education without discrimination for 104 years and grants holidays for religious festivals, including Krishna Janmashtami and Nagara Panchami. Vinayaraj said examinations were also held on Oct 12 during Dasara at Canara College, Alva’s College in Moodubidire, SDM College in Ujire and Vivekananda College in Puttur, but ABVP did not protest there.He said around 1,800 students were appearing for the examination, the majority of them Hindus, and alleged that an attempt was made to disrupt communal harmony by mobilising just 40-50 students.
