LUCKNOW, Feb. 25 -- Tensions continued to simmer for a third consecutive day at Lucknow University on Tuesday as a group of students recited the Hanuman Chalisa and sprinkled Gangajal near the 19th-century Lal Baradari monument, days after Muslim students had offered namaz and hosted an Iftar gathering at the same site. Police detained some students involved in the act. Shivam Singh, an MA Political Science student who was among those detained, said the group went to the spot in response to namaz being offered and an Iftar being organised there. "The university is a place for attaining education. If namaz is offered anywhere on the university premises, we will recite the Hanuman Chalisa as well," he said. Fellow student Ujjawal Singh said they also submitted a memorandum to the V-C demanding that the university bar all religious activity in public spaces on campus. Saurabh Singh, another student present, said their action was a direct response to earlier protests in the university this week. The unrest began after some students protested against the alleged illegal construction of fencing around the Lal Baradari premises. Some students then offered namaz at the site, while Hindu students formed a human chain around it, followed by an iftar gathering. On Monday, students who had offered namaz were summoned by an additional magistrate and told they were fined Rs 50,000 for their role in the matter. Members of civil society called for communal harmony. Former Lucknow University vice chancellor Prof Roop Rekha Verma said religious activity in educational institutions is provocative and that neither Iftar gatherings nor Hanuman Chalisa recitals are appropriate on campus. In a statement, university spokesperson Mukul Srivastava said the administration has issued notices to seven students and written to police seeking a ban on six former students from entering the campus. Police have also issued notices to 13 students. htc...