The Literary Society and English Department of Ramjas College had invited Umar Khalid and others at the event called ‘CULTURES OF PROTEST’. The objective of the event was to make the students aware of various ways in which conflicts are dealt with in different regions.
The event was scheduled to take place on 21 February, at 1:30 pm in the Conference Room. This particular poster (below) was put out at the campus, a few days before the event. Now the question is, why was this event not cancelled at the time it was being promoted in the University ?
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Free Reign to the Mob
If the college union or the university union was not in favour of any such event, they should have given prior notice to the organising authority, and resolved the dispute after discussion and debate.
As per the statement given by Ramjas College President Yogit Rathi, it was cancelled by the college principal at around 11:30 am. His statement can be heard on NDTV’s prime time show anchored by Ravish Kumar.
It is but obvious that all this had to do with Umar Khalid, whose visit was cancelled at 11:30 am.
Now the question is, when Umar Khalid’s visit was cancelled, why didn’t the college union and police try to disperse the unruly crowd near the conference room?
Violence Unleashed by ABVP Goons
While the students were on their way to participate in the session, large number of students supporting the ABVP were already near the conference room. Two groups clashed outside the canteen.
The students were protesting peacefully, while the supporters of ABVP were furious and angry. ABVP members were also against the protest – they were abusing the protesters, calling them terrorists. Even the professors were also accused of being anti-national with ABVP members shouting slogans “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Matram”.
Dragging Nationalism
The students who were already in the conference room, were locked inside. There was only one exit that was now crowded by furious ABVP protesters.
DUSU vice president Priyanka Chabri and Ankit Sangwan (Secretary), who were also present, were provoking the ABVP supporters. They were addressing the supporters, telling them not to let these terrorists come to DU.
Under the garb of nationalism, the ABVP and others, molested, abused and threatened the students inside the conference room. Many were told, in a rather forceful way, to chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.
On 21 February, the ABVP tried to impose the ideology of RSS and their own, on the students who believe in reasoning and questioning. Many objectionable comments were passed on girls, students were called a part of the ISIS, and along with professors, were asked to go to Pakistan.
This was sad reality of the incident of 21 February at the Ramjas College.
I think this kind of hyper-nationalism will only invite more violence and won’t rekindle passions for the country in any way.
(The writer is a student at Ramjas College who chose to remain anonymous. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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