Ramjas row turns into political battle
We stand with our students, tweets Rahul Kaur’s mind polluted, claims Union minister Rijiju
A battle broke out between political parties on Monday after Kargil martyr’s daughter Gurmehar Kaur was allegedly threatened by ABVP activists for launching a campaign against violence in the name of nationalism. While the Congress, Left and AAP came out in support of the 24-year-old student, the BJP accused these outfits of trying to give a different “colour” to happenings on some campuses.
The whole controversy erupted when Sri Ram College of Commerce student Gurmehar Kaur started receiving threats, allegedly from ABVP activists, over her social media campaign, promoting free speech and condemning violence in the name of nationalism, which won her massive support and caught the imagination of many young people. In her campaign, she had blasted the ABVP for instigating violence at Ramjas College last week.
“The brutal attack on innocent students by ABVP is very disturbing and should be stopped. It was not an attack on protesters, but an attack on every notion of democracy that is held dear in every Indian’s heart. It is an attack on ideals, morals, freedom and rights of every person born to this nation,” Gurmehar said in a Facebook status.
Extending his open support to the SRCC student, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Against the tyranny of fear, we stand with our students. For every voice raised in anger, intolerance & ignorance, there will be a Gurmehar Kaur.”
While BJP’s Karnataka MP Pratap Simha went to the extent of comparing Gurmehar with gangster Dawood Ibrahim, Union minister Kiren Rijiju suggested her mind was “polluted”. A man, on Facebook, even threatened to rape her. Reacting to this, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said : “You may not like what the person thinks but...Mindless threats, trolling emanating from people whom the Prime Minister of India follows (sic). This is the worst form of state intimidation and this is not how democracies and democratic countries function.”
Political battle reached its crescendo after Mr Simha tweeted, “At least
Dawood did not use the crutches of his father’s name to justify his antinational stand.” To mock the 24-year-old student, he even posted a photograph showing Dawood with the message, “I didn’t kill people in 1993. Bombs killed them.” Not only this. Mr Rijiju took to Twitter to take a dig at her. “Who’s polluting this young girl’s mind? Strong armed forces prevent a war. India never attacked anyone but
a weak India was always invaded.”
Apart from the Congress, the AAP and the CPI(M) also reacted sharply, and demanded “strict action” against those who allegedly threaten to rape the student. Posting a video of her, where she is talking about rape threats being issued to her, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “THIS is BJP. They will destroy our country.”