LUCKNOW – At least three students were injured in police lathicharge at theprestigious Aligarh Muslim University, which has been witnessing a row overa decades-old photograph of Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Earlier today, Rapid Action Force of the Uttar Pradesh police was deployedafter the students and some right-wing activists almost came to blows. Theright-wing activists were demanding the removal of Jinnah’s photo, to whichthe students objected.

In the evening, hundreds of students tried to march to the local policestation, where the activists had been confined. Unable to control them, theRAF men used force, sources said. The clash took place at the university’smain gate.

At the heart of the clash is a photo of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which washanging at the University’s student union hall for years.

On Monday, Satish Gautam, the BJP lawmaker from Aligarh, wrote touniversity vice-chancellor Tariq Mansoor, asking why the portrait wasallowed. AMU spokesman Shafey Kidwai responded that Jinnah was a founder ofthe university and was granted life membership of the student union.

“Traditionally, photographs of all life members are placed on the walls ofthe student union,” he told news agency Press Trust of India. “Jinnah wasaccorded life membership of the AMU students’ union in 1938. He was thefounder member of the University Court in 1920 and also a donor,” he added.

The controversy coincided with a visit by former Vice-President HamidAnsari, who was a professor as well as a vice chancellor of the university.

Hundreds of students of the university are currently sitting at the maingate of the university, demanding action against members of right-wingorganisations.