Intolerance Thy Name is ABVP

Resorting to violence to stop a seminar is a grave crime and this takes a more sinister dimension when it is perpetuated on the campus.

- Charanjit Ahuja

When the 20-year-old Gurmehar Kaur tweeted, “I am not afraid of ABVP”, it was clear that Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has begun wearing its peculiar brand of nationalism up on its sleeves. She went on “to anyone questioning my courage and bravery. I’ve shown more than enough”. Her tweets following violence at Delhi University’s Ramjas College went viral and received massive support from students across various universities.

Though subsequently she withdrew from the campaign but she had made a point that intolerance and jingoism had creeped in our system. “I’m withdrawing from the campaign. I request to be left alone. I said what I had to say...”. “I have been through a lot and this is all my 20 years self could take,” the student of Delhi’s Lady Sri Ram College said. Kaur, daughter of a Kargil martyr, had kicked off a social media campaign against the ABVP after Ramjas College witnessed large-scale violence.

The DU incident is line with the ABVP’s provocative attitude that was earlier witnessed in JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Hyderabad University, IIT-Chennai, and other institutions of academic repute. There is a question mark whether it was spontaneous reaction of ABVP or there was method in madness. The pattern shows that it was not the act of group of youngsters with a brazen sense of nationalism better said as jingoism. The journey from JNU to DU showed a pattern with law enforcing agencies remaining a mute spectator, falling short of abetting.