Ramjas College violence: Students, teachers plan counter-rallies to ABVP's Tiranga March

Campuses in Delhi are set to witness several marches and counter-marches tomorrow, with the Left-wing All India Students' Association, Congress-backed National Students Union of India and teachers from Jawaharlal Nehru University set to register their protest over the recent Ramjas violence.

The rallies follow the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's Tiranga march, which was held today. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated students' union raised slogans of 'Vande Mataram' as ABVP members carried the national flag in what they termed a 'march for the nation'.

Another RSS-affiliated group, Rashtrawadi Shikshak Sangh, a teachers' body, also staged a silent protest at the Ramjas Arts Faculty, demanding a "check on abuse of freedom of speech and expression by the Left-groups".

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW?

• NSUI is organising a symbolic one-day hunger strike at the arts faculty, followed by a 'Mashaal' rally.
• "While we stand against the ABVP strongly in their attempts to curb students' freedom of expression and misusing 'nationalism' to further their agenda, we also condemn the violent ways of the Left in handling of the situation," a statement by NSUI said.
• Students and teachers of DU and JNU, along with AISA members, will stage a march from Khalsa college in the North Campus to the arts faculty against the calling off a street play competition following "threats" from the DU Students' Union.
• The march, which is being promoted using hashtags like 'FightbackDUmarch' and 'DUagainstGoondagardi' will also see participation of groups such as 'Pinjra Tod' which have been fighting discriminatory hostel rules.
• Gurmehar Kaur, a Kargil martyr's daughter and a Lady Shri Ram College student, who claimed she received rape threats allegedly from ABVP members after she started a social media campaign against the outfit, will also attend the march.
• Kaur today was provided protection from Delhi Commission of Women home guards.

Also read: Campus politics turning colleges into battlegrounds, hurting academic freedom?

WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK?

Ramjas campus saw large-scale violence after the ABVP objected to a seminar at the college where JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid were invited.

This led to a violent clash with ABVP members being accused of beating up students, professors and media persons. The Delhi Crime Branch has opened and investigation into the case. Home Minister Rajnath Singh today ordered the Delhi Police to act with caution with the force coming under allegations of high-handedness.

Also watch: ABVP takes out Tiranga March in Delhi University