SEMINAR INVOLVING UMAR KHALID DISRUPTED IN RAMJAS
NEW DELHI: Umar Khalid, one of the expelled students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), felt the burns of sedition charges again when members of Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday stopped him from participating in a seminar organised at Delhi University’s Ramjas College.
The protesting members not only disallowed the participants to join the debate but forced the organiser, Literary Society and English department of the college, to call off the event titled The War in Adivasi Areas. The protest turned reportedly violent as a section indulged into alleged stone pelting and even police had to be deployed to avert any untoward incident.
“Scores of men associated with the ABVP and DUSU thronged at the campus entered the seminar premises and started sloganeering against Umar Khalid and the organisers. They soon turned violent with engaging in stone pelting and brick batting, breaking the window panes randomly. The police locked the room where the seminar was supposed to be held along with a few participants who were inside the room. The agitating members, threatening of dire consequences, forced the event to be cancelled without any further delay. The more shocking part is that the programme was being organised with the tradition of “Cultures of Protest” with an objective to look into exploring the representations of dissent in literary productions but the voice of the participants was suppressed,” said a student present during the protest.
Khalid, in a Facebook post, claimed the police said they would not be able to offer protection if he attended the event. “Such is the state of democracy in our country where attackers are given complete protection and those facing attacks are held responsible for the attacks on them,” he wrote.
From the police’s part, it was reported that they could not protect the seminar attendees, after which Khalid’s portion of the seminar was cancelled. Meanwhile, the police denied receiving any complaints in this regard. Principal of Ramjas College, Rajendra Prasad, reportedly said the event was cancelled after protests by students. According to reports, DUSU members said they would not let “anti-nationals” like Umar Khalid to speak in Delhi University.
The seminar was part of Ramjas College’s two-day seminar and Khalid was invited to speak on Tuesday along with former JNU Students’ Union vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora on Wednesday.
Vinita Chandra, professor at the English Department has reportedly informed: “The principal gave us permission after some hesitation but on Tuesday morning, we found some policemen asking students why their permission had not been taken.”
She said Ramjas students’ union president also sought permission to hold a peaceful protest.
“We even asked him to join the seminar and speak there but they did not agree. By about 11.30 am, a large number of students gathered at the foyer and the sloganeering began.”