Oz varsity clarifies after Tejasvi Surya’s event scrapping

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: In the wake of the cancellation of Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya’s event in Sydney, Swinburne University of Technology has clarified that the university was not party to it. The event was planned by a private party, Education Centre of Australia, the university clarified in an e-mail to News Trail.

“The event in question was not organised by, nor endorsed by, Swinburne University of Technology, Sydney.  It was planned by a separate organisation and it was to be held in the same building where Swinburne Sydney also happens to be located. Swinburne was not involved in the event in any way, and therefore cannot provide comment as to why it may have been cancelled,” the email from the university spokesperson stated. 

An Australian of Indian descent, who had been lobbying against Surya’s visit to Australia, on condition of anonymity, said that he and others had written to multiple authorities. “I personally was involved with e-mail campaigns, with classmates from my university (not Swinburne), family members, neighbours, and friends. We wrote emails to MPs, former Immigration Minister and all the universities that are in partnership with AIYD,” he said.

The Sydney-based petitioner said Australia should not let in hate-mongering politicians like Surya. “Absolutely, any sane person having seen his tweets, having read articles about him would reach the conclusion that he is a bigot,” he said.