Akshay Lakra said the installation was an attempt to glorify Savarkar, whom he called “traitor”

New Delhi: Protesting the unauthorised installation of the bust of Veer Savarkar, along with those of Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose, Delhi state president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) Akshay Lakra blackened Savarkar’s bust and garlanded it with footwear early on Thursday.

The president of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), Shakti Singh of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), on Tuesday installed busts of the three historical figures at the North Campus of the university without taking permission from the university or civic authorities.

Calling the authorities “mute spectators”, he attacked what he termed an attempt to glorify Savarkar. “He was a traitor. He was implicated in the assassination of Gandhiji. And you put his statue up next to freedom fighters like Bhagath Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose?” said Mr. Lakra.

Despite having filed complaints with the police and the university, no action had been taken after 48 hours of installing the bust, NSUI member Nikhil Kamble argued.

The ABVP, for its part, distanced itself from the installation, saying that the bust should have been installed only after requisite permission was taken from authorities.

Mr. Singh had said that it was a long-standing demand to have the statues of freedom fighters installed but had not been heeded by the university. The current installation was a mark of protest, he said.