'We are not government's mouthpiece': JNU ABVP leaders resign over crackdown

Dear friends,

We, Pradeep, Joint Secretary, ABVP JNU Unit, Rahul Yadav, President SSS ABVP Unit and Ankit Hans, Secretary SSS ABVP Unit are 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 Manusmriti and Rohith Vemula incident.

Anti-national slogans on February 9 in university campus were very unfortunate and heart-breaking. Whosoever responsible for the act must be punished as per the law but the way NDA government is 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 #ShutTDownJnu but I think they must circulate #ShutDownZeeNews which has demeaned this world class institution as anti-national. This biased ZEE News media generalised 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 government which has unleashed oppression on student community, which has leaders like O P Sharma, which has legitimised the action of right-wing fascist forces either in Patiala House Court or in front of JNU north gate. Every day we see people assembling at the front gate with Indian flag to beat JNU students. Well, this is hooliganism not nationalism. You can’t do go and 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 and some Left organisations are saying that nothing has happened in the campus but here we want to stress that veiled persons in the event organised 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 the 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 our identity. We need to come across party lines to save the reputation of this great institution, to save the future of JNUites as more than 80 per cent of students don’t belong to any political party. So let us unite to save this JNU culture.

(This first appeared on Pradeep Narwal's Facebook page.)