'Hooliganism not nationalism': Three ABVP leaders resign citing JNU and Rohith Vermula incidents // TITHI BHATTACHARYA - Kanhaiya Kumar Stands in a Tradition Beyond the Nation-State
NB: This is a significant gesture by these students. We must appreciate the fact that they have chosen to take a stand against the blatant injustice and partisanship being practised by the Government of India; as well as the irresponsible demonisation of JNU by a section of the media. Solidarity on basic principles is built during crises like this, and other students should welcome this gesture by the ABVP office bearers. DS
On Wednesday evening, three office bearers of the Akhil
Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad in Jawharlal Nehru University announced their
resignation from their designated positions in the aftermath of the assault on JNUSU President
Kanhaiya Kumar and the controversy after Hyderabad University scholar
Rohith Vemula's suicide.
Pradeep Narwal, who holds the Joint Secretary post in JNU's
ABVP unit put up a letter on his Facebook page, making public his decision to
step down. Along with him, Rahul Yadav and Ankit Hans stepped down too, who
hold the positions of President and Secretary of ABVP unit in the school of
social sciences.
Their resignation marks the first instance of differences in
the right wing student organisation being made public in recent times. "We
can’t be mouthpiece of such a government," the Facebook post says,
"which has unleashed oppression on student community".
Apart from questioning Delhi's BJP Member of Legislative
Assembly OP Sharma, the note also demands that action should be taken against
"any person responsible for the slogans" who, the note says,
"should be punished as per the law".
The note also goes on to "condemn [the] media trial
which has culminated in Anti-JNU sentiments throughout the country".
Following is the unedited text of Pradeep Narwal's
Facebook page making the decision public.
#SAVEJNU #SAVEDEMOCRACY
Dear friends,
We, Pradeep, Joint Secretary, ABVP JNU UNIT, Rahul Yadav,
President SSS ABVP UNIT and Ankit Hans, Secretary SSS ABVP UNIT resigning from
ABVP and disassociating ourselves from any further activity of ABVP as per our
difference of opinion due to the following reasons:
1. Current JNU incident.
2. Long standing difference of opinion with party on
MANUSMIRITI and Rohith Vermula incident.
Anti-national slogans on Feb. 9 in university campus were
very unfortunate and heart breaking. Whosoever responsible for that act must be
punished as per the law but the way NDA government tackling the whole issue,
the oppression on Professors, repeated lawyer attacks on Media and Kanhaiya
kumar in court premises is unjustifiable and we think there is a difference
between interrogation and crushing ideology and branding entire left as
Anti-national.
People are circulating #SHUTDOWNJNU but I think they must
circulate #SHUTDOWNZEENEWS which has demeaned this world class institution,
this biased ZEE news media generalize and related the act done by few people to
the whole student community of JNU. JNU is considered as one of the progressive
and democratic institution where we can see intermingling of people from lower
to upper income strata of the society, notion of equality.
We can’t be mouthpiece of such a govt. which has unleashed
oppression on student community, legislature like OP Sharma, govt. which has
legitimized the action of right wing fascist forces either in Patiala house
court or in front of JNU north gate. Every day we see people assemble at front
gate with Indian Flag to beat JNU student, well this is hooliganism not
nationalism, you can’t do anything in the name of nation, there is a difference
between nationalism and hooliganism.
Anti-India slogans can’t be tolerated in campus or any part
of country, JNUSU & some left organization are saying that nothing has
happened in the campus but here we want to stress that veiled persons in the
event organized by former DSU persons shouted slogans BHARAT TERE TUKADDE HONGE
of which there is concrete evidence in videos, so we demand any person
responsible for the slogans should be punished as per the law, and in this
whole process we also condemn media trial which has culminated in Anti-JNU
sentiments throughout the country.
Today we all must stand together to save JNU
which has given us identity, we need to come across party lines to save
reputation of this institution, to save future of JNUites as more than 80% of
students don’t belong to any political party so let’s unite to save this JNU
culture.
i |VANDE MATRAM | | JAI BHIM | | JAI BHARAT |
http://scroll.in/article/803753/hooliganism-not-nationalism-three-abvp-leaders-resign-citing-jnu-and-rohith-vermula-incidents
TITHI BHATTACHARYA - Kanhaiya Kumar Stands in a Tradition Beyond the Nation-State
NB - This is a comment I have posted beneath this small article in The Wire:
A piece truly to be appreciated. I am glad the author has cited Mahatma Gandhi at this dark hour, a man vilified by all quarters in his own country, whose monumental love and compassion for humanity was a shining light in the darkness of our descent into madness. I hope the younger generation will yet have the courage to cut through hateful ideologies and stand with the students of JNU.
see also
A Hard Rain Falling (on private armies and political violence-EPW, July 2012
The law of killing - a brief history of Indian fascism
TITHI BHATTACHARYA - Kanhaiya Kumar Stands in a Tradition Beyond the Nation-State
This is not the first time in recent years that we have seen
thousands of students and young people pouring out onto Indian streets against
regimes of dispossession and violence. In 2012, it was this generation
who took to the streets, all over India, following the brutal rape and
murder of the 23-year-old Jyoti Singh. In 2014, 100,000 people marched in
Kolkata against a draconian university administration and a corrupt state
government. In Hyderabad and elsewhere, student leaders such as Rohith Vemula
have been working tirelessly to draw attention to the silencing of Dalit voices
in history. In his speech, Kumar said he did not need a “patriotism
certificate from the RSS…a nationalist certificate from the RSS. We belong to
this country and we love the soil.”
He had defied the narrow, jealously guarded ‘nation’ — as it
stood forever stained with the violence against Muslims, Dalits, women and the
poor. Against this mythical saffronised ‘nation’, Kumar had called forth from
historical muteness the resonant voices of solidarity and compassion. When he spoke that night for his sisters and brothers in
Kashmir, for Vemula, against institutional violence towards women, Muslims and minorities,
he was, once again, in excellent company. He spoke as a Black Lives Matter
activist would while protesting police brutality in a major US city, he spoke
as a Palestinian would against an apartheid state, he spoke as a young person
of Algerian descent would against Islamophobia and empire in Francois
Hollande’s France.
Kumar is not anti-national. He stands in a tradition
beyond the nation-state. He stands steeped in internationalism. It is now our job to stand with him and others like him.
NB - This is a comment I have posted beneath this small article in The Wire:
A piece truly to be appreciated. I am glad the author has cited Mahatma Gandhi at this dark hour, a man vilified by all quarters in his own country, whose monumental love and compassion for humanity was a shining light in the darkness of our descent into madness. I hope the younger generation will yet have the courage to cut through hateful ideologies and stand with the students of JNU.
see also
A Hard Rain Falling (on private armies and political violence-EPW, July 2012
The law of killing - a brief history of Indian fascism