Bihar reported multiple blocked national highways and railroads during the state-wide bandh (strike) on January 28, 2022. The strike was called by the All India Students’ Association (AISA) in solidarity with those who had appeared for the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) exams but whose results are as yet unknown and whose future is now in limbo due to sudden changes in rules.

Hundreds of All India Students’ Association (AISA) and Inqilabi Naujawan Sabha (INAUS) students flooded the streets in support of candidates decrying the changes announced by the Railway Recruitment Board. These candidates face charges following a student-police conflict in the state on Republic Day. The government called for an inquiry committee into the matter but students dismissed the same and gathered on the street to voice their demand for employment.

They marched from Maharaja College in Ara district to the bus stop via various routes in the city and jammed the Ara-Patna main road for hours. They marched past the city’s police station, and the protesters also observed a sit-in at the railway station during the day and held a meeting.

While addressing the jam, Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) President and MLA Manoj Manzil said, “The government is constantly cheating the youth. Under the pressure of student-youth movement, the government is giving the pretext of forming an inquiry committee regarding the results of RRB NTPC examination and postponing the Group D examination.”

He warned that the BJP-JDU government will fall short of these assurances as well as guarantee 19 lakh jobs after the conclusion of the Uttar Pradesh elections.

AISA State Secretary Sabir said, “No youth of India wants privatisation and contracting of railways. The government is engaged in privatisation and contracting against public sentiments. Young people will not tolerate this.”

There students listed their demands, which are: release of arrested students, end of oppression by the State, withdrawal of fresh exams for Group-D of the CBT-2 mains exam, revised result for NTPC. Additionally, students demanded withdrawal of recent cases against students and suspension of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

State-wide response

Under the leadership of Communist Party of India – Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML), the Dharhara-Gopali chowk road in Abarpul of Ara was closed for hours. In Darbhanga, protesters stopped the Saptkranti Express with the support of non-BJP-JDU student unions and Opposition parties.

INAUS leaders in Arwal completely blocked the Patna-Aurangabad road at around 8 AM and called for a meeting at Bhagat Singh Chowk. As per reports, students blocked national highways 30, 31, 57 and many others across districts.

A large group of bandh supporters came out in Buxar under the leadership of Dumraon MLA and AISA State President Ajit Kushwaha. He said that the government should withdraw the cases against all the students, otherwise the movement will continue.

In Paliganj, students led by MLA Sandeep Saurabh blocked the Patna-Aurangabad road. He also participated in the Bihar Bandh in Paliganj. He said that while some people opposed the bandh, the call received massive response from students and youths.

INAUS State President Aftab Alam led the bandh in Muzaffarpur where the government threatened teachers and students by phone calls. Still hundreds of students took to the road and disrupted railway operations. In Hilsa, leaders took out a protest march and blocked the Fatuha-Islampur road. NH 57 was also completely jammed in Muzaffarpur, due to which the operation was completely disrupted.

Further jams took place at KB Chowk in Islampur, Madhepura, Khagaria, Siwan, Gaya, Nawada etc.along with a huge march came out in Jehanabad city.

Back in Ara, CPI-ML Central Committee member Raju Yadav said, “This government is running a barbaric campaign on students and youth who are demanding their rights. Today, the youth of the country have come to know the reality of the central government. The Bihar government has also continuously cheated the students and youth. The Modi government actually wants to sell the railways and mortgage it in the hands of Ambani-Adani.”

Solidarity in other regions

AISA students in Delhi also held a solidarity protest at Rail Bhavan, Central Secretariat on Friday. Protesters demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav, raised slogans in solidarity with Bihar youth and condemned the brutal police repression in UP and Bihar.

Speaking against the corruption in the examination process, AISA JNU Secretary Madhurima Kundu said, “An examination process that has taken almost three years has still come out with discrepancies. Students have all the right to protest for their rightful employment. The Railway Ministry must take immediate action!”

Further, RYA General Secretary Niraj Kumar said, “We demand immediate scrapping of all FIRs filed against protesters. Yogi Adityanath and Nitish Kumar must stop this saga of violence and ensure fulfillment of the demands of protesters.”

The protest ended with the submission of a memorandum to the Chairman of the invested government-appointed committee. The delegation included AISA Working General Secretary Prasenjeet .

Related:

UP-Bihar Bandh call after police-student conflict
Haryana: Why are 40,000 teachers’ posts lying vacant?
UP: Aspiring teachers call for mass protests following brutal lathi-charge
IIT entrance exams amidst Covid-19?

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Student and women rights organisations demanded on October 13, 2021 that ACP Pragya Anand be suspended for allegedly ordering the assault of two AISA activists outside the Home Minister’s home.

On October 10, around 20 All India Students’ Association (AISA) members gathered outside Union Minister Amit Shah’s house to call for the dismissal of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, whose son is the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

However, protesters were met with brutal violence and sexual assault by local police, alleged students. Two women activists particularly suffered severe injuries to their genitals. One survivor claimed that female officers attempted to disrobe her. Members claimed the police threatened to “show them their place.”

Symbols of Courage! Our Comrades @ShreyaDU_AISA, @neha_aisa and @EKhwabida boldly raising slogans at @DelhiPolice HQ refusing to be shamed by the police sexual violence.

Ongoing Protest at Delhi Police HQ against sexual assault on our women comrades outside Amit Shah’s house. pic.twitter.com/X1JjQbicgy

— AISA (@AISA_tweets) October 13, 2021

United Citizens Protest at Delhi Police Headquarters against the Horrible Sexual Assault in Custody by Delhi Police on Women Protesting against Lakhimpur Kheri Massacre of Farmers Outside Home Minister’s House!

Sack Pragya Anand, ACP Chanakyapuri Who Ordered the Assault! pic.twitter.com/2eXd1BzfBb

— AISA (@AISA_tweets) October 13, 2021

Enraged by this gross act of harassment, a delegation AISA members Shreya and Neha, All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) Secretary Kavita Krishnan and others from the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) assembled at the Ashoka road during the Citizen’s protest. They submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police demanding strict action against all personnel involved in the alleged attack.

AISA Delhi Secretary Neha said, “This kind of violence right in front of the Home Minister’s residence while Ajay Mishra walks free symbolizes the nature of BJP Government and Delhi Police! We saw it in Jamia Millia Islamia university, in Jawaharlal Nehru University, at Shaheen Bagh and in Delhi University that the Delhi Police has inflicted physical sexual violence on women protesters and we challenge them that we will be here to resist it every time!”

Similarly, Krishnan said that Shah was repeating the same atrocities suffered by people in the Northeast, Kashmir, Adivasi regions at the hands of local police. At the same time, protesters reinforced their original demands for Mishra’s removal from the Union Cabinet. Those subjected to the Sunday violence also asserted that they will continue to support farmers in their struggle against the three farm laws.

Earlier, farmers group Samyukta Kisa Morcha (SKM) also condemned the attack on Delhi students as well as five Banaras Hindu University students, who were protesting in solidarity with farmers.

“The protestors have stated that ‘these were not isolated acts committed by some rogue Delhi Police personnel. The manner in which the violence was meted out identically to both women, shows that the women personnel have received training and instructions to treat women protestors in this fashion to show them their place.’ The SKM supports the demand that Anand be dismissed and personnel who subjected protestors to disrobing and assault be suspended,” said farmer leaders in a joint press release.

Related:

Resist before Delhi Police makes sexual assault their SoP for protesters: AISA
After farmers, now protesting students face police brutality
Maharashtra Bandh: Traffic halts as protesters pay respects to farmer martyrs
Lakhimpur Kheri: Accused Ashish Mishra arrested on Saturday 

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Delhi’s All India Students’ Association (AISA) condemned the alleged sexual assault by police personnel of two women protesting the Lakhimpur Kheri killings outside Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence on October 10, 2021.

“It is a matter of shame and humiliation that students in Delhi, who are prone to protesting, are specifically targeted by the police, that too outside Shah’s house,” AISA Co-Vice President Kawalpreet Kaur told SabrangIndia.

On Monday, around 20 protesters gathered outside Shah’s house to demand the dismissal of Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra and ensure a fair trial against his son Ashish for allegedly mowing down and shooting at four farmers and a local journalist in Uttar Pradesh. However, before protesters could begin their demonstration, local police detained them and took them to the Mandir Marg police station.

During this time two women students alleged that women police personnel attempted to lift their clothes and kick their genitals, while being dragged on the road. Inside one of the three police buses, the police continued the assault.

“We will show you your place,” one of the survivors recalled the police saying to them, as per an AISA press release. This sexual assault was compounded by the fact that it was performed in front of male Delhi Police officers.

“Disrobing and sexual assault are often meted out by police forces in India to women and men from marginalised communities to shame and humiliate them. The Justice Verma Committee too had taken note of such custodial sexual violence and recommended several safeguards against it – none of which were ever implemented,” said the AISA.

Kawalpreet Kaur demanded that the Station House Officer of the Mandir Marg police should resign immediately for this unacceptable behaviour. AISA demanded that ACP Chanakyapuri, Pragya Anand who allegedly instructed officers to assault women protestors, be sacked and all perpetrators be suspended.

Further, AISA Co-Vice President Ranvijay told SabrangIndia that police behaviour towards protesters has worsened over the years, much like “BJP goons.” Even at the police station, students were not given medical attention. Similarly, they were not allowed to lodge their complaints against concerned police officers.

“We are preparing a statement and will send it to Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal,” said Ranvijay.

AISA stated that the manner in which the two women suffered the ordeal proves that these were not isolated acts committed by rogue Delhi Police personnel but specific instructions to “show women protesters their place.” Women all over India reject this “place” of humiliation and sexual assault by the boots of power, said AISA.

Regarding Mishra’s post as an officer, Kawalpreet Kaur said, “Ashish mowed down farmers. Why is his father still in the Cabinet? The actions on Monday show that they don’t want any kind of protest. It is obvious that justice cannot be meted out to farmers if Ajay Mishra remains in his post.”

Related:

After farmers, now protesting students face police brutality
Maharashtra Bandh: Traffic halts as protesters pay respects to farmer martyrs
Lakhimpur Kheri: Accused Ashish Mishra arrested on Saturday
Lakhimpur Kheri farmer deaths: SKM announces a slew of protests from Oct 12
Lakhimpur Kheri: How does a journalist’s death not make it to the headlines?

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Students condemning Lakhimpur Kheri killings in solidarity with India’s protesting farmers have reported severe mistreatment by police officials over the last week. While on October 10, 2021 Delhi students claimed physical abuse by police, as many as five Varanasi students now face FIR charges.

On Sunday, All India Students’ Association (AISA) students protested outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s house. They demanded the immediate dismissal of Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, whose son is the main accused in the killing of four farmers and journalist Raman Kashyap.

Students said Delhi police abused and detained students as soon as protesters arrived outside Shah’s residence. AISA officials said that they were severely beaten and women protesters were injured and harassed. Around 15 to 20 people were taken to the Mandir Marg police station in three buses. Members alleged that women constables in one of the buses ferrying women protesters continued to beat and harass students.

Inside the police station, AISA Delhi Secretary Neha said, “While a Union Minister, whose son has massacred farmers, still remains in power, the government has sought to unleash terror on students and people’s movements. Despite whatever violence police inflict on us, our demand for expulsion of Ajay Mishra stands strong.”

Students were later released at 6 PM after police filed FIRs against them all.

#SOSDelhi
Students protesting lakhimpur massacre at Home minister’s house have been Brutally detained and 3 female Comrades have been detained separately and are being subjected to physical Violence and sexual harrasment!
We are being taken to Mandir Marg station ! pic.twitter.com/Yn1zpdy9jU

— AISA – Delhi University (@aisa_du) October 10, 2021

In Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own constituency, five Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students faced FIR charges for protesting in solidarity with Lakhimpur Kheri farmers outside the Malviya entrance gate  on October 4. 

Shortly after the Sunday incident, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) called for nationwide demonstrations. People from various sections of society came forward to condemn the event. This included around 8 to 10 BHU students including Nitish Kumar, Aakanksha Azad, Bhuval Yadav, Raj Abhishek Singh and one unknown individual.

Protesters reiterated the demand for Mishra’s dismissal from his ministerial position as Minister of State for Home Affairs to ensure a fair trial against all those accused in the case. In response, the Varanasi police lodged FIRs against the five aforementioned students for not wearing masks, and blocking roads without seeking police permission.

While none of the charged have been arrested so far, student organisations have condemned the local police for filing FIRs against peacefully protesting students. Socialist People’s Council General Secretary Aflatoon appealed to the police to withdraw the charges against the students.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh police have barricaded roads leading to Lakhimpur Kheri. Organisations like the All India Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (AIKMS) reported that leaders were illegally detained in Bara, Prayagraj district to prevent grassroot-level protests.

“Reports indicate that the state government is deploying police and paramilitary forces in anticipation of farmers’ protests as per the SKM’s call of action,” said SKM leaders in a joint statement. SKM has called for prayer meetings at the ground-level in memory of martyred farmers. Citizens who cannot leave their house are requested to light five candles for the Lakhimpur Kheri deaths.

Related:

Maharashtra Bandh: Traffic halts as protesters pay respects to farmer martyrs
Lakhimpur Kheri: Accused Ashish Mishra arrested on Saturday
Lakhimpur Kheri farmer deaths: SKM announces a slew of protests from Oct 12
Lakhimpur Kheri: How does a journalist’s death not make it to the headlines?

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Arundhati Vashishtha Anusandhan Peeth (AVAP), founded by late VHP leader Ashok Singhal, recently organized a two day seminar “Shri Ram JanamBhoomi Temple: Emerging Scenario” in the Arts Faculty of the Delhi University starting on January 8, 2016. As the Head of the Peeth, Subramanian Swamy led the seminar. The venue was booked by a member of National Democratic Teachers’ Front, the right-wing teachers’ group on Campus. On the morning of January 9, the University Campus was converted into a veritable police camp, with a large number of armed personnel. This, however, did not deter the protestors. Students and teachers of various left organisations, Congress and AAP students’ wings continued to raise slogans for several hours against the communalisation of campuses and made several attempts to break through the barricade.

Subramanian Swamy told the media that a “blueprint” for building the Ram temple will be unveiled at the seminar. In his inaugural lecture, he emphasised that the construction of the Ram Janambhoomi temple is important for the realization of Ashok Singhal’s dream. Later in the day, he tweets an offer (threat!) “We Hindus offer Lord Krishna's package to Muslims–give us 3 temples and keep 39,997 masjids. I hope Muslim leaders don't become Duryodhans”. On the second day, his tweet read “Finally today with help of police force deployment of Namo Govt we held our seminar and made left wing loonies look like pathetic orphans”. He claimed that the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya could start before the end of the year. With the recent reports from Ayodhya suggesting that truckloads of bricks have arrived there for the building of the temple, the seminar must be viewed as another step in that direction.

By holding this seminar in a premier central university, the BJP-RSS-VHP aimed at polarising the youth. Soon after its announcement, some young men on the evening of January 5, applied saffron paint to the Vivekananda Statue at Arts Faculty.

Image Courtesy: Abha Dev Habib

The Peeth, which could have organised the seminar in any paid space in the city, wanted to host it at DU to gain legitimacy, to claim later that the “blueprint” was an outcome of a seminar at a University. The Kar Seva for the Ram Janambhoomi Temple and the divisions it will create seem to be essential to the BJP’s plan for 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections in UP. They have little else to offer.

The Ram Janambhoomi seminar also seems to be part of a larger design to penetrate into Central Universities, which are centers of mass education. Yogi Adityanath was invited to Allahabad University [1] by the ABVP members on the Students’ Union. Similarly, Ramdev was invited to be the keynote speaker at the valedictory ceremony of the Vedanta Congress at Jawaharlal Nehru University [2], At both Allahabad University and JNU, students’ opposition saw cancellation of the programmes.

In order to dilute the “intolerance” debate in the country, Swamy and his followers labelled the protest against the seminar as an act of “intolerance”. They tried to equate the protests against the communalisation of Campuses to the unprecedented attack on freedom of speech and expression in the country and on its plural culture by BJP-VHP-RSS.

Universities as centers for providing space to one and all are also under threat. The termination of services of Sandeep Pandey, professor in the department of chemical engineering at IIT-BHU for his “anti-national activities” is a recent example. Professor Pandey, a Gandhian, is a renowned social activist and a Magsaysay award winner.

Ever since the NDA Government came into power in May 2014, there has been a multi-pronged attack on the education sector. The re-writing of school textbooks has begun [3] and insistence on including the Gita as part of the school curriculum has followed[4]. Both moves are part of the Hindutvawaadis and their time-tested patterns of hegemonising the education sector. The attacks on institutes of higher education began with the appointments of Heads who little known for their academic work or contribution(s).  The appointments of Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), [5] Y. Sudershan Rao to head the ICHR [6] and Pahlaj Nihalani of the Censor Board [7]aare some glaring examples. The hosting of a seminar on the Ram Janambhoomi issue seems to be part this overall design: reaching out to a section of the youth with a hegemonic divisive agenda and through this, communalising the educational environment.

The Hindutva agenda seems to be closely linked with the Government’s plan of furthering the commercialisation of Higher Education in tune with the requirements of WTO-GATS terms. When the protesting FTII students met Arun Jaitley, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, he hinted that if the students did not cooperate “they might have to face the bleak prospect of shutdown and eventual privatisation”. Weak heads of institutions find it difficult to resist the Government’s agenda, and are ready to bend backwards, surrendering the autonomy of the institution.

In the 2015-16 the overall education budget of the Centre is down from Rs. 82,771 crore to Rs. 69,074 crore, revealing the Governments priorities! In the last one year, both the IITs and CSIR labs have been told to generate their own funds (for research) and the budgets to Universities and Colleges have been slashed on one pretext or the another. The Ministry for Human Resources Development (MHRD) has also tried to stop the non-NET fellowship for M.Phil and Ph.D. students. Disregarding and violating autonomy of Universities and their needs, the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) with common syllabi prepared in the University Grants Commission (UGC) was also imposed unilaterally, without any discussions, despite agitation and protests from teachers and students.

Converting Campuses into zones of communal hatred will only help them to quickly bring down the premier public funded universities, to shoo away all those who can afford or take loans to study in private universities, domestic and foreign.

Image Courtesy: Abha Dev Habib

The Question
Leaders of independent India realized that the country needs to look forward and saw education as the means of fighting socio-economic disparity and superstition; to further and deepen the ethos of secularism and democracy. They identified education as a means of developing the scientific temper, a much needed ingredient for building a modern India. This became the rationale behind providing public funded education.

Universities, embedded in a larger social fabric, are not completely free from the ills prevalent in the society. While many public funded universities have been completely destroyed, a few have resisted the collapse and tried to generate and maintain a culture of critical thinking. Generations of teachers and students have worked hard to create an environment where young men and women coming from various sections of society can interact and partake of a meaningful education.

The communalisation of universities will lead to a degeneration of this academic environment, place faith and identity over scientific temper and critical thinking. It is important to remember that today’s Afghanistan and Syria were not created overnight. The question before us is to once again choose between faith and rationality.

The only way out (Ekhee Rasta)
As a teacher opposing the Ram Janambhoomi seminar at DU, I was invited to a television debate on the issue. Reacting to my opposition, the RSS spokesperson, Vinod Bansal was quick to throw their definition of nationalism: "अगर भगवन राम के प्रति आस्था नहींहै, तो देश के प्रति भी आस्था नहीं है "(If one does not faith in Lord Ram, then one has no faith in the nation).  His definition did not shock me. The fact that he was, however, brazenly able, to say this,  without any hesitation on a national channel brought the looming crisis home to me. The threat is real and imminent.

The only way forward is to keep resisting as we have done at Delhi University. The only way forward is also to create situations whereby a Delhi and a Bihar can repeat in other states.

(The writer is Joint Secretary, Democratic Teachers’ Front and Member, Executive Council, Physics Department of the Delhi University)

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A Joint Press Conference of several organizations affiliated to the left was organized at 2 pm today, January 8, 2016 to protest the Delhi University’s permission to host a seminar on the Ramjanmabhoomi issue on January 9. See https://sabrangindia.in/article/protests-against-colouring-du-saffron

The protests against the seminar by Arundhati Vashishtha Anusandhan Peeth ‘to mobilise public opinion for the Ram Janambhoomi temple’ is growing. Addressing the meet at the gate of the Arts Faculty, which is the chosen venue for the proposed seminar, students and teachers reiterated their demand that permission for such a seminar that actually seeks to spread the politics of division within the University and permission should be withdrawn.

Speakers included professors, Shaswati Mazumdar, Germanic and Romance Studies and President, DTF, Sunil Kumar, History Department, Ali Javed, Urdu Department, Najma Rehmani, Urdu Department, Rukmani Sen, President, Ambedkar University Delhi Faculty Association and Madhu Prasad, member, AIFRTE. The press conference was also addressed by representatives from students’ organisations including Chinglen Khumukcham (NEFIS),   Rahul Sarkar (AIDSO), Aman Nawaz (AISA), Prashant Mukherjee (SFI), Deepak Gupta (PACHHAS), Subhash (KYS), Amrita (AISF), Divya (Disha), Ayantika (DSU), Chaitanya (Nowruz) and Kuldeep (BSCEM).

Professor Sunil Kumar (Department of History) pointed out that in the last five years, the DU administration has done everything possible to suppress the culture of debate. The administration has been consistently denying space for teachers and students to hold meetings or discussions. The permission to the seminar on Ram Janambhoomi to the Peeth clearly shows that the administration is patronising a particular ideology. It was this same administration that forced the Department of History to remove Ramanujan's Three Hundred Ramayanas from the syllabus.

Professor Rukmani Sen from AUD said that it is time for academicians and students to come together from across the universities against this attack by the forces of majoritarianism and against the communalisation of educational institutions. She said that this seminar has to been seen as yet another way in which education is being reoriented to further VHP-RSS agenda.  

Professor Shaswati Mazumdar stressed the point that universities are places where students from various backgrounds come together in pursuit of meaningful education and that the communalisation of universities will lead to breakdown of liberal academic environment.

Professor Madhu Prasad pointed to the twin attack on public funded universities. While the Government has reduced funding to education and is going ahead with the agenda of offering Higher Education to WTO-GATs, seminars like this aim at communalising the environment of public funded universities.  

Other speakers criticized the position taken by the DU Administration in claiming that they did not know the content or the topic of the seminar at the time of booking. If that is the case, then the permission could now easily be withdrawn. The double speak by the University that anyone could hire the hall for holding any activity does not hold true as speakers pointed out how the hall had been denied in the past to other organisations and groups. Professor Ali Javed recounted how he was denied permission to hold seminar on the crisis facing Higher Education but this seminar was given permission so easily! Speakers also stressed how the seminar is clearly not an academic activity or even intended to be debate, borne out by statements by leaders of the VHP that the issue of the temple at Ram Janmabhoomi was “a matter of faith”. Statements that the blueprint for the construction of the temple would be prepared at the seminar also clearly indicate how the university campus is being sought to be polarized.

Students said that the major issues facing them like the access to quality education and employment opportunities are not being addressed while activities such as this seminar seek to divide the students on communal lines and divert the attention from the main issues before the youth and the country. They also condemned the university administration for not addressing the issues facing students and for denying spaces to them for various activities while giving permission for such dubious seminars.

Save Du will organize a cultural protest programme tomorrow from 10 am to 2 pm at Arts Faculty with the participation of writers, artists, cultural activists, lawyers and educators. Student participants in today’s programme and in tomorrow’s cultural protest spoke with determination of their resolve to not allow this destruction of the secular fabric of the university and the country. The need of the hour is to stand together in this fight against the politics of hate and to foist the plans of the Sangh Parivar to spread communal poison.

(Press release issued by the All India Democratic Students Organisation, All India Students Association, All India Students Federation, Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, Common Teachers Forum, Disha, Democratic Students' Union, Democratic Teachers' Front,
Janwadi Shikshak Manch, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, North-East Forum for International Solidarity Nowruz, Parivartankami Chhatra Sanghtan (PACHHAS) and the Students' Federation of India)

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An all out bid to communalise the temperature on the Delhi University campus appeared afoot as “unidentified persons” climbed onto the Vivekananda statute situated in the midst of the Delhi University Campus and started painting it saffron! The incident, late on Wednesday (January 6, 2016) comes on the eve of a controversial ‘seminar’ on the Ramjanmabhoomi issue being hosted by the university’s Arts Faculty and conducted by an outfit linked to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
 
Meanwhile in a strongly worded statement, as many as 15 organisations affiliated to the Left have come together to protest the two day seminar ‘to mobilize public opinion for the Ram Janambhoomi temple’ which is being organized by Arundhati Vashishtha Anusandhan Peeth in Arts Faculty, Delhi University starting on January 9, 2016.
 
The text of the protest statement:
It is very clear that the seminar is not an academic activity, as it is not organised by any department of the university but by an organisation that has a clear design and preconceived ideas about the outcome of such an exercise. This seminar must also be seen in connection with other recent reports from Ayodhya suggesting that truckloads of bricks have arrived there for the building of the temple. By holding this seminar in a premier central university, the RSS-VHP clearly intends to polarise the youth and create a divisive atmosphere.

Universities are supposed to be institutions that bring young people from all backgrounds, including all faiths, together in the common endeavour of the pursuit of knowledge. Universities should be spaces for secular education. The holding of a seminar on such a nationally divisive issue is a blatant misuse of the University. We may recall the recent controversies around moves to hold programmes in JNU and Allahabad University with Ramdev and Yogi Adityanath as participants. Both moves were successfully resisted by students and the University as a space open to all was defended.

It is shameful that the DU administration has given permission to hold such a programme. The same administration continuously denied university spaces to the democratically elected bodies to organize meetings and programmes. In allowing this divisive and communal programme, the University administration has shown disrespect to the academic environment of the University. The DU administration is bending backwards to please the BJP-led Government.

It is deplorable that the Government is imposing academic dilution on the public funded universities through hurriedly imposed programmes like CBCS and starving them through fund cuts on one hand and on the other damaging the academic environment in universities by pushing their divisive agenda. We demand that permission for the conduct of this programme be withdrawn forthwith. We also call upon the university community and citizens to resist the attempts by the RSS-VHP to spread communal disharmony through such programmes.

The statement has been signed by All India Democratic Students Organisation
All India Students Association, All India Students Federation, Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch, Common Teachers Forum, Disha, Democratic Students' Union, Democratic Teachers' Front, Janwadi Shikshak Manch, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, North-East Forum for International Solidarity, Nowruz, Parivartankami Chhatra Sanghtan (PACHHAS) and the Students' Federation of India.
 
Incidentally the outfit that has been permitted by the Arts faculty to organise the seminar, Arundhati Vashishtha Anusandhan Peeth, is a research organisation founded by late VHP leader Ashok Singhal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The attempt at painting saffron Vivekananda comes two days before. DCP (north) Madhur Verma told sections of the media that, “..the  patrolling staff spotted some students painting the statue. They immediately apprehended those persons and informed the university faculty. The proctors and senior security staff of DU arrived and the students were handed over to them. Since no complaint was given by the university administration, no action has been taken against them”
 
According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place at about 8.30 pm. Five persons climbed on top of the black statue with the help of ladders, with paint cans and brushes in hand, and began painting the statue in saffron colour.

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