When the news of JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest – on charges of sedition – surfaced, one man not only welcomed the news, but celebrated it.
His name is Vikram Singh Chauhan.
Vikram Singh Chauhan is the ‘lawyer’ who led the attack on journalists and students on Monday and was part of the group that assaulted Kumar at the Patiala House Court on Wednesday. He used social media to mobilise support for these attacks.
Hailing from Haryana, Vikram is better known as an active and rigorous BJP party worker than as a lawyer. He is very active on social media and even has a page to promote his political ideologies.
After the JNU incident, there was increased activity on Vikram’s Facebook page. Chauhan’s Facebook timeline shows nine posts between 11-16 February in which he urged lawyers to reach the court well in time to “demonstrate patriotism” and “teach the traitors a lesson”.
Vikram is a Law Faculty alumnus from Delhi University.
After failing miserably in student politics during his time in college, he became a lawyer. He now participates in the student rallies of the ABVP. On 12 February, he joined the ABVP rally held near India Gate with 5 fellow lawyers and posted pictures with a clear message to “anti-national forces” that “patriotic youth” were “ready to make any sacrifice” for the country.
Vikram posted ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ again on his Facebook page two days before Kanhaiya’s hearing in the Patiala House Court. He had already passed his judgment on who was a traitor and who was a patriot. He ended this post with ‘Doodh mangoge kheer denge, aage sabko pata hai (you know the rest of it)’.
The two posts, within a day, attracted around 400 likes and gave him ‘a sense of popularity’, so he changed his profile picture and cover image soon after his group of lawyers assaulted JNU students and journalists.
His photos attracted hundreds of likes and congratulatory comments. A few even proudly posted a media photo of Chauhan assaulting a student in the comment threads.
It looks like Chauhan has a thing for ‘black’. He enjoys wearing it and practising it too. After the attacks on the journalists, there was a rumour that perhaps some goons entered the court wearing black – because lawyers are not expected to conduct themselves in such a way. But in reality, Vikram prefers to take every action wearing ‘black’.
The Patiala House Court ruckus on 15 February was witnessed by a large number of people. The Bar Council expressed its concerns over such a heinous incident, but it was a glorious moment for Vikram and his friends. In a post, he says, “Today I am feeling proud to be a member of the Bar Council. Long live India, long live lawyers!”
He coordinates and manages communications for most of Delhi and other RSS and BJP state meetings. As per sources, he’ll be involved in the RSS rally to be held on 21 February.
However, Vikram, who is fond of using political references to click pictures with Bollywood celebrities, realised the sensitivity of the 16 February issue.
The next day, he was back at Patiala House Court. And this time, the group headed for Kanhaiya.
He ignored summons from Delhi Police issued on Thursday and showed up at the Karkardooma court where he was felicitated by lawyers for his “stand against anti-nationals”.
Vikram seems to think that he is above the court and readily takes the law into his own hands. If lawyers like him continue to down the same road, and receive plaudits for their behaviour, we are definitely witnessing a ‘black’ phase in Indian judiciary.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)