[Reader-list] Press Note : Condemn the vandalism of ABVP and RSS in Delhi University

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear all, dear hany babu,

I am shocked to read this note. Clearly the ABVP and its allies on  
the campuses of our universities have become nothing short of  
criminal gangs that seek to impose their writ through acts of violent  
intimidation. No words are strong enough to condemn the incident that  
has been reported below. It only goes to show that the 'culture' of  
'cultural nationalists' of the ABVP variety is synonymous with plain  
thuggery. That the concerned university authorities (the pro-vice  
chancellor and the proctor) acted in a partisan manner and asked for  
this meeting (for which prior permission had been sought and granted)  
to be closed is deeply regrettable. They have profoundly compromised  
their integrity and the dignity of their position by the manner in  
which they have conducted themselves.

In any given public meeting, the public is invited to attend, and has  
the right to ask questions and make critical comments if necessary.  
That the ABVP chose not to do this, but to attack and disrupt the  
meeting, and insult and harm the speakers, says all we need to know  
about their capacity to enter and engage into a debate. They have  
nothing to say. They have no facts, no arguments, no reasons, no  
evidence. All that they have is muscle power, throat power,  
meaningless and empty slogans, and the patronage of corrupted and  
compliant authorities and the police.

This should be seen, not as a sign of their strength, but of their  
pathetic weakness. They will not prevail.

best

Shuddha





On 06-Nov-08, at 6:14 PM, hany babu wrote:

> *Press Note*
>
> *University Community, Delhi University*
>
> *6th November 2008*
>
> *Condemn the vandalism of ABVP and RSS in Delhi University!*
>
> *Defend the freedom of speech and our democratic rights!*
>
> Dear media persons and journalists,
>
> * *
>
> We wish to bring to your notice the latest incident of vandalism by  
> Akhil
> Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad goons (ABVP, student wing of the RSS)  
> in Delhi
> University, in which members of the press community were also made  
> victims.
>
> The University Community, an independent group of students and  
> teachers of
> Delhi University, had organised a meeting on "*Communalism, Fascism  
> and
> Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality*" on 6th November 2008 at Room No.  
> 22 Arts
> Faculty. It did not come as a surprise that right-wing forces would be
> opposed to any meaningful discussion on these issues.
>
> As the Chair of the meeting, SAR Geelani (lecturer at Zakir Husain  
> College,
> University of Delhi), came inside the room and took his seat, one  
> of the
> ABVP members came and *spat on his face twice*. It was then that we  
> realised
>
> that this was a planned attempt to disrupt the public meeting –  
> ABVP goondas
>
> were sitting inside the room and they rose to hurl abuses at the
> participants and physically attack them. DUSU President Nupur  
> Sharma (of
> ABVP) entered the room and declared that SAR Geelani, a lecturer of  
> this
> University, could not speak in the University! This, when we had  
> taken due
> permission from the University authorities to conduct the meeting.
>
> The ABVP goons attacked the women students and participants, broke the
> microphone and hurled chairs. They also manhandled media persons  
> who were
> covering the meeting. Two journalists from Tehelka and Mail Today,  
> who were
> speakers at the meeting, were threatened by ABVP. The mother of one  
> of the
> media persons who was present had to leave the venue because she was
> terrorised by the goons. At this point, the Pro-Vice Chancellor and  
> the
> Proctor called one of the organisers and told him *that the meeting  
> could
> not go on because it was creating a 'law and order' problem. *Who  
> did the
> University administration side with? ABVP.
>
> It was the courage and fortitude of the audience who insisted on  
> continuing
> the meeting. The ABVP goons were pushed out of the room and the  
> meeting
> continued behind closed doors. ABVP did not stop there. *In the  
> presence of
> a large contingent of Delhi Police, and we dare say with their  
> permission,
> they threw stones at the room, broke all the window panes, tried to  
> break
> the doors and continued abusing – *Goli maaro saalon ko, Pakistan  
> Murdabad,
> Vande Mataram – were some of the better ones*. SAR Geelani, in  
> particular
> was targeted. *However, they could not scare us and stop the  
> meeting from
> concluding successfully.
>
> We wish to bring to your notice that this is not the first effort  
> of ABVP
> *to
> snatch all the democratic space available to us in the University*.  
> Last
> year, the faculty members and students of the History Department were
> targeted only because of a text in their syllabus. The same goons  
> who once
> attacked our right to study history texts today attacked our right  
> to hold
> meetings and discussions.
>
> During a meeting on communalism and fascism, we were witness to the  
> threat
> and danger posed by these communal and fascist forces to the  
> secular and
> democratic fabric of our country. The parent organisation of ABVP,  
> and the
> politics espoused by them, is responsible for the widespread attack on
> minorities across the country. It is they who were responsible for the
> genocide in Gujarat and for spreading the politics of hate and  
> fear. If we
> remain silent today, *we will lose whatever little space that is  
> left to us
> in the University*. Do we need to take permission from ABVP to hold a
> meeting in the University? Who does the University administration  
> and Delhi
> Police support in the fight against fascism?
>
> *We call upon the entire University community to protest against this
> assault on academic freedom and democratic rights. In protest of  
> today's
> events, we are organising a protest march tomorrow at the  
> University, at
> 11:00 a.m. at Vivekananda statue, Arts Faculty. We demand*
>
> *1.       **The University administration should lodge a FIR  
> against ABVP
> members, especially persons like Nupur Sharma, Vikas Dahiya, Desh  
> Ratan,
> Sonu Singh and Ashutosh.*
>
> *2.       **Time-bound enquiry into this act of vandalism and  
> goondaism and
> action against the people found guilty. *
>
> *3.       **To give us assurance that future public meetings on  
> similar
> issues will not be disrupted by these goons. *
>
> University Community
>
> *Contact Persons: Umar Khalid 9873961701, Harsh Bora 9811855618,
> universitycommun...<http://groups.google.com/groups/unlock?hl=en- 
> GB&_done=/group/greenyouth/browse_thread/thread/29a70db7becff1de% 
> 3Fhl%3Den-GB&msg=bd0acd545ae5e08f>
> @gmail.com*
> -- 
> MD. MAHTAB ALAM
> mdmahtaba...<http://groups.google.com/groups/unlock?hl=en-GB&_done=/ 
> group/greenyouth/browse_thread/thread/29a70db7becff1de%3Fhl%3Den- 
> GB&msg=bd0acd545ae5e08f>
> @gmail.com
> Phone:+91-9811209345
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net