ABVP goes berserk at Ramjas over Khalid invite

New Delhi: A seminar organised by Ramjas College was disrupted by ABVP members on Tuesday as they were opposed to the idea of JNU student

Umar Khalid

being invited as a speaker. The mob allegedly vandalised college property and even pelted stones at students and teachers.

Titled ‘Culture of Protests’, the seminar had invited Khalid, one of the three students slapped with sedition charges last year, for his research on violence against Adivasis. ABVP members demanded Khalid’s exclusion.

“We gave a memorandum to the principal, asking him to stop the programme because Khalid is a criminal charged for anti-national slogans who is out on bail. We didn’t want someone like him to come and speak,” said Delhi University Students’ Union president Amit Tanwar.

Sensing more trouble, the teachers and members of the organising committee called up Khalid and asked him not to come. “That’s because the police told them that they cannot assure my protection,” Khalid said.

“A settlement was reached after discussions with ABVP, who said they will allow the event if Khalid was not invited,” a student said.

Khalid, however, called it an attack on the essence of a university and said he would not be bullied by ABVP.

Aryan Mrinal, a second-year history student said, “Around 50 ABVP men sloganeered against the seminar, and some even abused and heckled the teachers. Even after Khalid’s name was removed from the speaker list, they kept on protesting and playing loud music outside the conference hall to disturb the speakers.”

Students also said the mob broke window panes of the conference room.

Ramjas history professor Mukul Manglik said other students of Ramjas along with the teachers took out a silent march around the campus. “But by the time we reached near the conference hall, some students from the terrace started pelting stones and twigs at us. Two students got injured,” Manglik said.

The organising committee decided to cancel the event due to ABVP’s threats.

Many Ramjas students who had organised the event said they were afraid. “Our own classmates singled us out in front of ABVP men and threatened us of dire consequences. We are wary of going back to college,” said Rudra Bhushan, a third-year student.

Manglik blamed the police for “inaction”. “This attack is an attack on the constitutional guarantee of freedom. It’s sad that the police chose to stop the event instead of stopping the violent crowd,” he said.