Prayagraj: ‘All India Mushaira and Kavi Sammelan’ is going to be held in Allahabad University on Friday under the joint aegis of Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, Central Cultural Committee and Department of Urdu. To To mark the 75th Independence Day, the event was abruptly canceled after Chief Guest Divisional Commissioner Sanjay Goel and Vice Chancellor Prof Sangeeta Srivastava excused themselves from attending the event.
University sources said some of the invited poets were also those who raised their voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Shaheen Bagh last year, prompting two dignitaries to skip the event and eventually cancel it. done.
The event was to be held in the historic Senate Hall of AU’s Faculty of Arts and all preparations were in place. However, at a time when almost all the participating poets had arrived and guests including heads of several departments, deans and administrative officials had come, an announcement was made that the program was being called off.
Though the university administration cited ‘inevitable circumstances’ as the reason for canceling the event, people close to the AU administration informed TOI that it was done after the chief guest and VC withdrew from attending the function Because some of the invited poets were those who raised their voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Shaheen Bagh last year.
A senior faculty member from AU said, “Since Friday morning, this issue was doing rounds on social media, which could be the main reason for the chief guests not attending the event and eventually canceling the event.”
Social media posts even claimed that the event was canceled after the intervention of the UP Chief Minister’s Office.
However, AU officials have denied all such claims. AU’s Public Relations Officer Jaya Kapoor issued a press statement on Saturday saying, “The proposed Kavi Sammelan and Mushaira program in the Senate Hall on Friday has been cancelled. The event was to be organized by Urdu Academy and AU and its Urdu department and Sanskriti Samiti was providing logistics support but some names placed in the panel of invitees were without approval.
“The VC had nothing to do with the organizing details of the event. He was invited to preside over the session since the program was held in the Senate Hall of the university. The program was canceled due to unavoidable reasons. There is no truth in the media reports that the program was canceled at the behest or intervention of the CM office or the Union Ministry,” the PRO said.
University sources said some of the invited poets were also those who raised their voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Shaheen Bagh last year, prompting two dignitaries to skip the event and eventually cancel it. done.
The event was to be held in the historic Senate Hall of AU’s Faculty of Arts and all preparations were in place. However, at a time when almost all the participating poets had arrived and guests including heads of several departments, deans and administrative officials had come, an announcement was made that the program was being called off.
Though the university administration cited ‘inevitable circumstances’ as the reason for canceling the event, people close to the AU administration informed TOI that it was done after the chief guest and VC withdrew from attending the function Because some of the invited poets were those who raised their voice against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Shaheen Bagh last year.
A senior faculty member from AU said, “Since Friday morning, this issue was doing rounds on social media, which could be the main reason for the chief guests not attending the event and eventually canceling the event.”
Social media posts even claimed that the event was canceled after the intervention of the UP Chief Minister’s Office.
However, AU officials have denied all such claims. AU’s Public Relations Officer Jaya Kapoor issued a press statement on Saturday saying, “The proposed Kavi Sammelan and Mushaira program in the Senate Hall on Friday has been cancelled. The event was to be organized by Urdu Academy and AU and its Urdu department and Sanskriti Samiti was providing logistics support but some names placed in the panel of invitees were without approval.
“The VC had nothing to do with the organizing details of the event. He was invited to preside over the session since the program was held in the Senate Hall of the university. The program was canceled due to unavoidable reasons. There is no truth in the media reports that the program was canceled at the behest or intervention of the CM office or the Union Ministry,” the PRO said.
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