[Reader-list] Condemn the violence

Javed javedmasoo at gmail.com
Thu Nov 6 21:54:02 IST 2008 

In the DU meeting, the ABVP goons spat on the face of SAR Geelani. How
atrocious.

I remember somebody on this list a few days ago said: "I don't oppose
your views, I spit on it".

Sounds so similar.

J

On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 8:58 PM, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, I agree with Shuddha. Any kind of violence must me condemned.
>
> So similar to Kashmiris who also indulge in violence by killing people or
> damaging public and Govt property.All that these kashmiris have is muscle
> power, Gun power , throat power,meaningless and empty slogans, and the
> patronage of corrupted and compliant authorities , pseudo secularists and
> the paid up writers
>
> Pawan
> Jai Andhra ! Jai Hind
>
>
>
> On 11/6/08, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________
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