Tension erupted at Panjab University on Wednesday afternoon after members of student group Lalkaar staged a protest against an event organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the PL Anand Auditorium, opposing the invitation to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members as chief guests, which they said amounted to the saffronisation of the university.Around 20 to 25 students participated in the protest, which began around 3 pm, coinciding with the ABVP-organised ‘Seerat Yuvti Sammelan’. The programme, presented by the ABVP-led Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) president, was organised to felicitate women representatives under its ‘Nine Days, Nine Women Representatives’ initiative.The protest, held under the banner ‘PU Against Saffronisation’, was met with resistance from opposing student groups and witnessed a minor scuffle. Twelve people were detained by the police between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm and taken to the Sector 11 police station.Sara, president of Lalkaar, alleged that protesters, including herself, faced physical violence while approaching the protest site. “While I was being detained, the woman police constable lifted me up by pulling on the waistband of my jeans,” she said. She also alleged that protesters faced violence from the opposing side.Police said they were trying to stop the protesters from moving towards the auditorium when students from Lalkaar and other student groups came face to face.“We were trying to stop the protesters as they were approaching the auditorium. The Lalkaar students and other parties were in a face-off, and our personnel were in between, separating the two sides,” a police official said.The official added that 10 to 12 students were detained as a precaution and released once the situation calmed down. “We detained 10-12 students and let them go as the matter cooled down,” the official said.The group had opposed the participation of RSS members in the university event, arguing that the invitation raised concerns over the ideological character of the campus.However, Ankit Bhidan, president of the PUCSC, alleged that the protesters trespassed into the event venue and disrupted the programme, triggering chaos.“We had to call university security personnel and the police after the protesters started trespassing into the event venue,” he said.The police said a minor scuffle had taken place between the two groups, following which 12 people were detained.In the past three months, this was the third ABVP event to face such a scuffle. The other two incidents took place at the Convention Centre, where the event was opposed by the Students for Society (SFS), and outside the Law Department before the elections, where the event was opposed by SATH.