The South Asian University (SAU) in New Delhi has issued show cause notices to at least two students following a physical confrontation in the university mess on Maha Shivratri. The SAU has cited a complaint received by the Proctor’s office that alleged that the students were involved in “anti-establishment activities”, with one of them making “offensive remarks against Hinduism and fasting devotees”, among others, The Indian Express has learnt.
The notices, dated April 1, were sent to a master’s student and a doctoral scholar in connection with a February 26 incident that allegedly triggered altercation between two groups after fish curry was served in the university mess, despite requests from a group of students that only vegetarian food be made available on the occasion of Maha Shivratri.
A video circulating on social media had shown a heated confrontation in the mess, with a group of students, including a female student, caught in a physical scuffle. Many had alleged that members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad were responsible for the clash.
One of the show cause notices stated: “Proctor has received a complaint against you dated 26.02.2025… The contents of the said complaint are as follows: That you have forcefully handled the ‘students observing fast on the occasion of Mahashivratri’ at the students mess… that you have made offensive remarks against Hinduism and fasting devotees… That you are involved in the anti-establishment activities which were previously limited to closed spaces and WhatsApp groups, and that now such activities have been escalated into open public aggression…”
The notices maintained that the students “intentionally spill(ed) non-vegetarian food (fish) on the students observing fast” and referred to them as being involved in “bullying the students who do not align with” their ideology.
The complaint, as cited in the notices, claimed that the two students targeted the religious sentiments of students observing fast, and that one of them forcefully intervened during the dispute, “verbally abused them,” and “joined (another) in physical assault”.
It added that the students engaged in “ deliberately creating disturbances and provoking the students observing fast by repeatedly targeting their religious sentiments… intentionally placing the non-vegetarian food (fish) near satvik bhojan”.
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In a response submitted to the administration on Monday, one of the students wrote: “Students were indeed fasting, and I respect that… There is no chance that I would make an offensive mark about Hinduism… I have not spoken anything about Hinduism or the fasting students…”
“…I was not aggressive… I was only trying to defend myself… I was screaming for help because I was extremely scared…,” it added.
Calls and messages to SAU officials went unanswered.
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