[Reader-list] DU allows ‘seminar’ blasting Govt; Geelani is star speaker

[Shivam V]

You can see this epaper report of the incident in the Hindustan Times:
http://tamasha.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/spitting-at-geelani.pdf

It has pictures of the spitting incident.

It is clear that the ABVP members were out to deny SAR Geelani his
right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the
Constitution. Geelani is not in jail, not on remand custody, not
convicted, and not asked by a court of law or a magistrate not to
speak in public (as is the case with Raj Thackeray from time to time).

There has also been some spitting on this list. Aditya Raj Kaul, Pawan
Durani and others who defend this act, should by extension be denied
their right to free speech on this list. They should be removed by the
list administrator.

best
shivam

o o  o


November 4, 2006
HT Correspondent
New Delhi, November 07, 2008
First Published: 00:57 IST(7/11/2008)
Last Updated: 00:59 IST(7/11/2008)

Ugly scenes mar DU seminar

A group of activists belonging to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Parishad (ABVP) on Wednesday went on the rampage at Delhi University.
The group vandalised the venue of a seminar in protest against the
presence of SAR Geelani, acquitted in the Parliament attack case and
at present, lecturer in Zakir Hussain College.

Amid the chaos, one activist spat on Geelani. The mob, headed by Delhi
University Students Union president and ABVP member Nupur Sharma
damaged property and hurled abuse on Geelani at the seminar on
'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy, Rhetoric and Reality', disrupting
the programme briefly.

The incident took place at the Arts Faculty in Delhi University's
North Campus. ABVP activists went on damaging the windows, doors,
chairs and the microphone to disrupt the meeting.

"We will not let a terror suspect give a talk on Hindu terrorism in
the University. Geelani was acquitted on technical grounds. He even
approached the Supreme Court to clear his name but the court refused,"
said Sharma.

The violence only stopped after police came in large numbers and
detained the activists.

The University Community –– an independent group of students and
teachers of DU, which had organised the seminar, condemned the
violence.

"The violence happened in police presence and DU authorities too sided
with the ABVP goons. The University should lodge an FIR against the
guilty and action should be taken imediately," said Harsh Bora,
student at PGDAV College and member of the Community.

To lodge their protest the Community members would hold march at Arts
Faculty on Thursday, said Bora.

In response, ABVP issued a statement saying the country was witnessing
a difficult phase as terrorism and anti-social activities were
increasing. "At this stage, inviting a person like Geelani shows sick
mentality of the organisers. Are we going to invite Afzal Guru to
Delhi University in future if he is released from jail?" the statement
said.

Geelani meanwhile asked students to fight for democratic values and
debunk efforts by forces to target certain individuals and terrorise a
community. "This is a trailer of fascism. The fact that we held the
meeting shows that we succeeded to beat the fascist forces," Geelani
said.

DU authorities said action would be taken against the errant students.
"Law will take its own course against whoever has done this," said
Gurmeet Singh, Proctor, DU.

Earlier this year, ABVP activists had been arrested after they
vandalised the office of the History Department head S. Z. H. Jafri
protesting against certain "objectionable" portions in the B.A.
History (Honours) syllabus.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=bf371038-438b-42f5-bd25-d14504de1764

(c) Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times


On Sat, Nov 8, 2008 at 4:50 PM, Appu Esthose Suresh <appu.es at gmail.com> wrote:
> Wha! Sabhash! I never had seen people betraying their sub conscious, every
> bit of it.  I must congratulate the brand idea of quoting The Pioneer
> report, what an Idea Serjee!! I doubt the "venom that spewed" ("interactive
> session" where venom was spewed on the
>
> Government's counter-terrorism- Pioneer 7th Nov) went into the eyes of
> reporter that might have made him myopic; of course Mr. Geelani knew he is
> from Pioneer! No wonder there is any praises on the highly dignified manner
> in which a civilized ABVP activist greeted Geelani with his spit. Well, was
> it a purification attempt? Then, I convey my sympathy to the reporter; he
> missed the bull's eye by a wide margin. He was witnessing to the
> sanskritization and didn't even mention a word. Certainly, ABVP must write a
> strong letter condemning this act to the erstwhile editor. In that case you
> don't know the address please post it to BJP Headquarters, after all
> Chandanda is their Rajya Sabha MP.
>
>
>
> A note to the Gentleman who posted it in the readers list, after taking
> public interest into consideration. Fire your newspaper boy who didn't
> deliver you any other paper yesterday; your cable operator who didn't let
> you watch any news; possible sue Google who screened all the other reports
> on vandalism in DU.
>
>
>
> Why should Afzal Guru be hanged? The court said so! Mind you the court did
> so to satisfy the collective conscious of Indian Community, then for a
> moment I thought I am a Pakistani. Nevertheless we shall continue—what did
> court say about SAR Geelani? — He is innocent— who cares— who asked the
> court to say so? WE THE LAST INDIANS (Read members of the "nationalist
> organization") think rather insist, a person once accused for Terrorism will
> remain a terrorist. Oops! What am I saying? How can that be true about a
> sadhvi? What about the brave soldiers who killed terrorist (Pardon me, I got
> to spit out, actually terrorists?) who have now confused about their
> involvement in Malegaon.
>
>
>
> Let me ask the evergreen experts on almost everything under sky from
> medicine (until they pointed out that even if a policemen is shot at by a
> terrorist right at the front, injury would only be in the backside ) to
> security (Breaking News: Blast in Malegaon, in the same breath, Indian
> Mujahudin involved). *Doctors,* am I mistaken when I say Bajrang Dal is
> involved in terrorist activity? *Doctors,* what should I say when a Kashmiri
> ask, we been telling, army has fundamentalist who commit Human right abuse
> and bring bad name to that institution, now what? *Doctors, *Is that okay if
> I call an Indian, that too from 'the integral part of the country' a
> terrorist when is been acquitted?
>
>
>                  (*To be continued…………*)
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 7, 2008 at 10:28 AM, chanchal malviya <
> chanchal_malviya at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> All in the world has right to speak and speak alound against Hindus..
>> But Hindus..
>> If they speak, it is surely communal and if Saadhvi speaks she is a
>> terrorist...
>>
>> Everyone knows that Geelani is one of the accused in Parliament attack and
>> he was to speak against Hindus.. But he has freedom as a teacher and greater
>> freedom because he is about to speak anti-Hindu....
>>
>> Karunanidhi have stressed that Hindus will not be allowed to put 'Tika' on
>> their forehead...
>>
>> Wait my dear friends.. very soon, you will not be allowed to call yourself
>> Hindus... That is the only end of Secularism..
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Aditya Raj Kaul <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
>> To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Sent: Friday, November 7, 2008 8:14:06 AM
>> Subject: [Reader-list] DU allows 'seminar' blasting Govt; Geelani is star
>> speaker
>>
>> *DU allows 'seminar' blasting Govt; Geelani is star speaker
>>
>> **Staff Reporter | New Delhi
>>
>> The Daily Pioneer
>>
>> Link -
>>
>> http://www.dailypioneer.com/132900/DU-allows-%E2%80%98seminar%E2%80%99-blasting-Govt;-Geelani-is-star-speaker.html
>> *
>> *Parliament attack accused incites youth to end 'fascism' in India, take on
>> ABVP 'goons'*
>>
>> Under heavy police bandobast, the Delhi University (DU) on Thursday
>> facilitated an "interactive session" where venom was spewed on the
>> Government's counter-terrorism initiatives and a known anti-national — SAR
>> Geelani, accused in the Parliament attack case — was hero-worshipped.
>>
>> Addressing a gathering of about 50 students and teachers at the Arts
>> Faculty
>> seminar hall, Geelani said the Batla House encounter was stage-managed by
>> Delhi Police. He said that different parameters were being applied in the
>> handling of Islamic terrorism and the so-called Hindu terrorism. Geelani
>> was
>> speaking on 'Communalism, Fascism and Democracy — Rhetoric and Reality',
>> organised by a barely-known campus group called University Community.
>>
>> "There is no democracy in India. The Government, in the name of national
>> security and war against terrorism, is targeting select people and letting
>> others go scotfree. There is a huge difference in the way the Government
>> deals with the so-called Islamic terrorism and those spread by Hindu
>> extremists. *Aur zyaada janne ke liye aap baad mein miliye* (Meet me later
>> for further explanations)," said Geelani, who was an accused in the 2003
>> Parliament attack case and was later comforted by the Supreme Court. He
>> said
>> that fascism and prejudice had crept into the four pillars of democracy in
>> India. "Even the Chief Justice of India has been accused of corruption," he
>> said.
>>
>> About 50 persons, including some teachers from different departments of DU,
>> participated in the talk. Amid slogans like "Civil Liberties Long Live" and
>> "Hindu goons wapas jao", the speakers -- including two working journalists
>> and a professor from the Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia,
>> Nehsat Quaiser -- professed the cases of banned Muslim group, the Students'
>> Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and the likes of Afzal Guru.
>>
>> Talking about the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists
>> opposing the branding of Hindu groups as terrorists, Geelani said,
>> "Inquilab
>> comes from the youth. You should not fear these goons and end this
>> fascism."
>>
>> Another speaker said the Malegaon blasts accused, Pragya Singh Thakur, was
>> not a sadhvi but the face of Sangh terror. University sources said a
>> teacher
>> from the Department of English had booked the hall for organising 'a talk'.
>> University officials said they were not informed of the topic and that
>> Geelani was supposed to deliver a lecture. University Proctor Gurmeet Singh
>> even called the organisers repeatedly, asking them to cancel their talk in
>> view of the protests incited by Geelani's and others' views. The meeting,
>> however, went on.
>>
>> The ABVP members, on the other hand, demonstrated outside the seminar room
>> and shouted slogans, 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'. An activist
>> even managed to reach the dais and spit on Geelani's face, saying 'shame,
>> shame'. The ABVP activists then damaged some windows, doors, chairs and the
>> microphone to disrupt the meeting. However, the meeting continued despite
>> the disturbance. Later, police arrested some ABVP activists.
>> _________________________________________
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>> _________________________________________
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