Delhi’s Ramjas College turned into a war ground on Wednesday as students of Left-affiliated AISA clashed with RSS-backed ABVP. The cause of dispute was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on ‘Culture of Protests’ which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.
A series of non-violent social media protest against ABVP started by Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of Kargil martyr Captain Mandeep Singh has spread across various campuses in Delhi. The campaign is called “I’m Not Afraid of ABVP”.
Gurmehar, a student Lady Shri Ram College, slammed ABVP for the attacks on the students of Ramjas College. She called it “brutal”, “disturbing” and an “attack on Democracy”. Appealing to those against ABVP, she asked them to “take a similar selfie and make it your profile picture”.
Kaur, updated profile picture holding a placard reading:
“I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP”
It post goes with a status message:
“The brutal attack on innocent students by ABVP is very disturbing and should be stopped. It was not an attack on protesters, but an attack on every notion of democracy that is held dear in ever Indian’s heart. It is an attack on ideals, morals, freedom and rights of every person born in this nation. The stones that you pelt hit our bodies, but fail to bruise our ideas. This profile picture is my way of protesting against the tyranny of fear.”
Her post got a massive response from students from different campuses who replaced their profile pictures on Instagram and Facebook, in solidarity with the students of Ramjas College.
In less than 48 hours, the FB post of Kaur had 1,200 reactions, 1,991 shares and 143 comments. From Punjab university, JNU to Jamia and university of Maharashtra, her campaign was all over social media.
It is to be noted that this campaign, of course, was rejected by a few who attacked Kaur by calling her a kid and a revolutionary on social media.
It is to be noted that this campaign, of course, was rejected by a few who attacked Kaur by calling her a kid and a revolutionary on social media.
Notably, this is not Kaur’s first attempt to show her concern towards the increasing violence in our country. A silent video by Kaur with a peace message between India and Pakistan had gone viral in 2016, a year which marked the domination of nationalism in the political discourse. Her silent video which has over 15 lakhs views, was aired on FB on April 28 requesting both the countries to put an end to state-sponsored terrorism and hatred.
Here is the link to the video:
