•Coomi Kapoor: The criticism of your actions is that it sets a precedent. What if this precedent were to be applied to other universities with a high degree of criminality?

We’re not defending criminality. There is a specific context in which this whole thing has happened. This is the case of two students who haven’t been proven guilty as yet. It’s as simple as that. If they are proven guilty, there is no question of any kind of help—moral, legal or financial.

•Vandita Mishra: You said the university has held conferences to discuss terror. Has any discussion touched upon the issue that confronts us now—that of homegrown terror involving the urban, educated Muslim?

Of course, we have. We know there is homegrown terrorism. How will you address it? You have to isolate those who are out to undermine the democratic-secular edifice of our society. But how do you do it? You don’t do it by a legislation such as POTA. You devise effective legislation, the kind of legislation that would counter not only Muslim terrorism but the terror unleashed by the VHP, by the BJP as is evident from what has happened in Malegaon and in Karnataka. What is happening is a national problem and has to be dealt with in the larger framework of keeping our social fabric intact. You can’t isolate these things. The blast in Delhi’s Mehrauli hit headlines but when a similar one took place in Malegaon, it was a small story. This does not send out the right message.

... contd.