Everyone seems to have an opinion on Gurmehar Kaur, the 20-year old Delhi University student who spoke up against the right-wing student outfit Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Perhaps never before has a 20-year old apolitical girl irked so many people at the same time. For taking a stand against the ABVP, she has been termed anti-national, issued rape threats and ultimately been forced to withdraw her campaign and leave Delhi for the good.
The nationalist frenzy is so rampant that social media users have become opinionated jerks who are unthinkingly lapping up the ABVP’s version in branding the girl as anti-national, without any regard for her sensitivities. But very few of those judgmental people are aware of the ins and outs of the case.
So here’s an eye-opener,
1) ABVP activists did indulge in violence, in spite of accusing left-wing of the same
Proof:So far, it is known that Prashant Mishra and Vinayak Sharma, both from the ABVP, allegedly assaulted two left-wing supporters at Delhi University’s Khalsa College on Tuesday. Both the accused have been suspended from the RSS-affiliated outfit, their suspension coming in the wake of their arrest by Delhi Police.
Many in Delhi University may not be surprised at these arrests. DU’s students have been clamouring against ABVP’s violent methods right from the start, from the day that the ABVP first protested an invitation to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid at Ramjas College. Witnesses at that event claimed that ABVP pelted stones at the ‘Culture of Protests’ event venue, and issued rape threats to female students for daring to participate in that event.
2) Some Delhi Police personnel did rough up students and journalists at Ramjas College
Proof: The Delhi Police has suspended four of its cops including one head constable and two constables in the last one week for alleged brutality on students who were protesting against the ABVP violence. The Delhi Crime Branch, which is investigating the case now, has interviewed 10 people in the probe.
Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik had ordered an internal enquiry into claims of police high-handedness initially when allegations of police brutality first surfaced. The case was later transferred to the Crime Branch, which seems to be making some headway.
3) Gurmehar Kaur did not utter a word against India or ever supported any of the left wing activists
Proof: All 20-year old Gurmehar Kaur did was take on the ABVP through an online poster campaign that appealed to a solid number of social media users. All she did was ask for peace between India and Pakistan. Her statements may sound right to any sane thinking person. After all, who wants war? Who would want to live in fear? Kaur lost her father, an army veteran, when she was just two years old.
But her campaign and the wide appeal it gained irked the Right, including senior BJP ministers Kiren Rijiju and Arun Jaitley. Actually, the line of thinking she was proposing was in complete contrast to what India’s powerful Right wants Indians to believe in.
Bashing Pakistan is a favorite past-time and is juiced by our right-wing leaders for electoral benefits. That is an open secret. Gurmehar’s thoughts threatened this nationalist line of thinking, and so senior BJP leaders jumped into petty student politics.
Watch the entire video. Picking up one slide and making it an issue only proves you have serious lack of comprehension,
(Source: Youtube/Rainbow Coalition Page)
4) Gurmehar Kaur did protest ABVP’s violence at Ramjas College
Proof: That’s all she did. Kaur exercised her constitutional right to freedom of speech and spoke out against the ABVP. However, due to some twisted logic that’s permeating in the minds of our governing class and their supporters these days, anyone who doesn’t lean to the Right is treated as “anti-national.” The peace-loving daughter of a martyr,Kaur,thus,became an anti-national.
