On Wednesday, after The Indian Express ran a story about the heads of educational institutes going into a shell after four attacks in four days by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members, Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Symbiosis International University and Bharati Vidyapeeth felt emboldened enough to come out with official statements condemning the attacks.

Despite MIT, Indira Institute, Raisoni institute and Bharati Vidyapeeth bearing the brunt of the MNS fury, till Wednesday, all the stakeholders of the city education sector had gone into a shell and were not ready to come out openly and condemn these attacks against the institutes for allegedly giving preference to outside state students over their Marathi counterparts.

V D Karad, founder-director of MIT, came out with an official statement slamming all the four attacks. Incidentally, MIT was the first institute to be at the receiving end of MNS vandalism. Karad termed the attacks unfortunate and acts of cowardice.

“Every institute in the city admits students according to the norms set by the Supreme Court and policy drawn by the state government. According to the policy, only 10 to 15 per cent admissions are given in the management quota and while doing so, there is no such criterion like ‘locals’ and ‘outsiders’. Generally, admissions are done on the basis of norms, but even after that some miscreants in society commit such acts of cowardice on wrong information. It is a shame on a democratic country like India,” Karad said.

The statement went on to point out that such acts may divert thousands of students who come to Pune not only from Maharashtra but also from different parts of the country and world to other places. “It will be a great loss to the ‘Oxford of the East’. I hope such vandalism will be condemned by every section of society,” he said in the statement.

S B Mujumdar, chancellor of Symbiosis International University, also condemned the attacks and appealed to the members of MNS to understand the norms of the admission process of a deemed university and a state university before resorting to violence. “Symbiosis International University, being a deemed university, comes directly under the rules framed by the UGC and the Union Ministry of HRD. We have to conduct a national entrance test to admit the students, for which students from all over the country appear,” said Mujumdar.

“It is observed that very few Marathi students apply for this test with only 5 per cent getting through,” he added. “Obviously, the number is less. Instead of resorting to violence, it is necessary to boost Marathi students to appear for the competitive tests. Being a Marathi manoos,I would love to see more Marathi students appearing for the test and getting admission,” said Mujumdar.

Vishwajeet Kadam, Secretary of Bharati Vidyapeeth, said Pune was the 21st century Nalanda and it should be a matter of pride that students from outside are coming to the city. “Before taking to violence, the MNS should understand the role our institutes have played in taking the Marathi bahujan forward. It is a sad day when institutes have to take police security. We have refused the offer for such security,” he said.