A section of North-East students on Wednesday demanded an apology from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) wing of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi after they were allegedly assaulted and denied an entry into an event held at the University campus.
ABVP had invited three BJP Chief Ministers from the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur to speak at the” Ishan Uday: Bridging the Heart in Jawaharlal Nehru University” event.
But reportedly students from those states were not only stopped from meeting their own CMs but were also denied an entry into the programme, which was hosted in the premises of Koyna Hostel of JNU.
“Students from north-east in the campus expected a productive dialogue with the Chief Ministers of their home states. They wished to convey their concerns regarding the relevant issues of their respective states. But at the last moment, the students were informed that there will be no interactive sessions with the Chief Ministers,” said a statement from that section of the university.
According to the statement, on not been allowed to interact with the ministers, the northeast students went to the venue and peacefully started distributing pamphlets that contained the questions they wanted to raise. But they were once again stopped by the ABVP “hooligans,” who “threatened and assaulted the female students who were distributing these pamphlets.”
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The ABVP wing is also accused of bullying and chanting racial slogans and making derogatory remarks against the northeast students, calling them Bangladeshis – in reference to the recent NRC draft in Assam, which left over 40 lakh people outside the list, calling them violators or illegal citizens. Most of them are assumed to be from Bangladesh and have entered the country after 1971.
They raised bizarre slogans like, “Bangladeshi supporters murdabad” and “naxalbaad ho barbaad” and “Gujarat ho ya Guwahati, apna desh apna maati,” said the statement. The Convener of North East Students Forum was also not allowed an entry and instead, the organisers had reportedly brought people from outside, who posed as the audience in the event.
Criticising the behaviour of the prejudiced ABVP organisers, the statement further said that a protest march against the hooliganism and discrimination of northeast students will be held in the JNU campus.
“We strongly condemn ABVP for their un-democratic behaviour and demand a public apology from them addressed to all the students from India’s northeast in JNU. We also urge all the democratic forces to join us in a protest march at 9:00 p.m. on 29.08.10 from Ganga Dhaba in JNU.”
Meanwhile, the All India Students Association (AISA) and Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) held a press conference at the Aam Aadmi Party office on Wednesday, regarding the upcoming Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) Elections.
Presided by the convener of AAP Delhi, Gopal Rai, the conference was attended by Ravi Rai (national in-charge AISA), Niraj Kumar (Delhi AISA secretary), Sumeet Yadav (CYSS Delhi convener) and Kawalpreet Kaur (DU AISA president), said a press release.
It was announced that AISA and CYSS will contest the upcoming DUSU to be held on 12th September elections jointly, with AISA contesting for the post of President and Vice-President while CYSS contesting for the post of secretary and Jt. Secretary.
Their alliance will certainly be a strong contender to the money-muscle dominated model of politics of NSUI and ABVP in Delhi University, said the release.
“The rising trend of violence and vandalism of NSUI and ABVP in Delhi University has to be countered,” said Rai pointing out the need to construct a positive political culture in Delhi University. He also emphasized the necessity to make the University affordable for common students with a high quality of Education.