London: Tributes were paid to the memory of
Indian student Anuj Bidve at Lancaster University, where he
was enrolled for a post-graduate qualification before being
killed in an unprovoked attack in Salford on December 26.
Over 200 students and staff gathered at the memorial
service at the Lancaster University Chaplaincy Centre
on Saturday.
The university is discussing with Anuj`s family what sort
of tribute would be a fitting way to celebrate his life.
The university has offered financial assistance to the
Bidve family, which reportedly raised a loan against their
house in Pune to finance Anuj`s study in Microelectronics at
Lancaster.
It was confirmed at the service that the Deputy
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob McKinlay, will visit Anuj`s
parents in Pune early February to personally deliver the
memorial book that was set up at the University.
At the service, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E Smith
thanked the police, the people of Salford, and the university
community for the way in which they responded.
Staff and students had met Anuj`s parents and his
brother-in-law when they visited on January 5.
The University was represented at the candlelit vigil held
in Ordsall a week after his death where hundreds of people
gathered and had also offered financial assistance to Anuj`s
family.
Speakers at the service included Anuj`s friends, Harsha
Shukla of the Lancaster and Morecambe Hindu Society, Reverend
Geoff Pearson, the Anglican Bishop of Lancaster, and Shiv
Pande, secretary of the Indo-British Association.
PTI
