Following protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad against the “presence of members affiliated to the tukde tukde gang”, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune on Thursday dropped several experts invited to speak at a programme to mark the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, The Indian Express reported.

The ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders from the BJP and its affiliated organisations often accuse their opponents and dissidents of being members of a “tukde tukde” gang, or a group of persons trying to divide India.

In a press statement, the institute said it had organised a series of talks to celebrate Ambedkar’s anniversary, The Indian Express reported.

“As part of the student-led Muktiparv programme, talks were planned at the institute by external speakers who are academicians and experts working in the areas of social equality and caste and gender dynamics,” the newspaper quoted the statement as saying.

Several academicians, including Deepali Salve, Nazima Parveen and Smita M Patil, had been invited to speak about the dynamics of caste, economics and gender, it added.

The organisers of the programme followed due process and had undertaken “the organisation of this event with the intention that no objectionable content should be propagated” through it, the institute said.

“However, due to the concerns raised, to avoid controversy, we took the decision of not hosting the planned external speakers at this time,” it added.

Earlier in the day, ABVP activists met Sunil Bhagwat, the director of the institute, to mark their protest against the speakers invited to the event. The student wing of the RSS said that it objected to the presence of “staunch Maoists” invited to speak, according to The Indian Express.

“There is a chance that their statements might cause law and order problems and they would try to divide the society on the basis of religion,” The Indian Express quoted the statement as saying.

It claimed that Ambedkar had opposed the ideology of the Left throughout his life.

“Why has IISER allowed the presence of members affiliated to the ‘tukde tukde gang’ on the occasion of his Jayanti?” ABVP asked. “Last year during the Muktiparv, speakers had made statements which had hurt the sentiments of the people.”

The student wing also said that it had also submitted a representation to the Pune Police about the event.