JALANDHAR: Lovely Professional University (LPU) founder-chancellor Ashok Mittal on Wednesday alleged that there was a “big conspiracy” behind the violence on the varsity campus, in his first reaction since protests erupted over the alleged rape of a female student.The Rajya Sabha MP said, “Absolutely, there is some conspiracy behind it.”Mittal was speaking to reporters at a rally in Jalandhar addressed by Union home minister Amit Shah at the culmination of the BJP’s ‘Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra’, news agency PTI reported.Asked about the extent of damage to campus property, Mittal said his greater concern was Punjab, which he described as a border state.“I have less concern for LPU. I have concerns for my Punjab, which is a border state,” he said.“Why did it happen in the border state, and who did it? I have a concern for national security, who was behind it and who let it happen,” said Mittal, who was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party.Mittal claimed that the alleged rape was an attempt to defame Punjab and LPU, PTI reported.“There is no victim. No victim has been found yet,” he asserted.He said students, whom he described as “sincere and committed”, were provoked to join the protest.“We will examine all points on our own and where need arises, will take help of governments so the right thing comes to the fore,” he said.Mittal also criticised the incident in which a protester climbed atop a decommissioned MiG-23UM aircraft installed on the campus, while some others mounted a military tank.“They climbed atop a MiG-23 and a tank. They insulted the country and brave soldiers,” he said.Mittal said a protest had also been held at Chitkara University before the LPU incident.“It is a matter of Punjab’s security. I am more afraid that Punjab is not safe. My Punjab should remain safe. It is a border state,” he said.A public interest litigation has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking a CBI probe into the vandalism and violence at LPU.The high court on Wednesday sought a status report from the Punjab government on the probe into the matter, PTI reported.On Sunday, LPU students held a massive protest and blocked a stretch of the New Delhi-Amritsar Highway outside the campus.There has been an allegation that an outsider raped a female student on the university premises and that the administration hushed up the matter.Students also alleged that some outsiders with their faces covered damaged property, ransacked shops and set several places on fire on the campus.Police have registered a rape case based on the complaint of students and booked unidentified persons over the violence and arson.On Monday, a large number of students headed home after classes were suspended for 10 days, bringing calm after days of unrest.(With agency inputs)
