What happened in Ramjas was not how we would debate and dissent

On February 22, 2017, Delhi University's Ramjas College turned into a battleground. Students from two rival groups, the Left-affiliated AISA and RSS-backed ABVP, resorted to violence in an unprecedented clash. Some of them were hitting each other with hockey sticks, some were left bleeding. Women, teachers, students, no one was spared.

The sight was disturbing. The intensity of hate for each other was seemingly on optimum level. Students of Left-affiliated groups were traitors and anti-national for the ABVP. The right-wing group was dubbed as anti-freedom of speech and anti-democratic by Left wingers.

The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar, which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Twenty-seven years ago, I spent several days and sometimes even nights at the same venue, the gates of Ramjas College. That too was one of the most volatile periods of Indian politics. In 1990, then PM VP Singh announced that his government had accepted the Mandal Commission report. It had recommended 27 per cent reservation for OBC candidates at all levels of its services.

Many upper-caste students like me, who came to Delhi University to fulfil their civil services dream, were shattered. Soon protests against the OBC quota began. We formed an Anti-Mandal Commission Forum (AMCF). The main inter-section, in front of Ramjas, was occupied and renamed Kranti Chowk. It was the headquarters of AMCF.

Soon the movement turned violent. At several places, the police lathi-charged students. At a few places, the police fired at them, few were killed. Almost entire north India was witnessing some sort of agitation. There was a vertical split in society. Upper-caste students were suspicious about the activities of their OBC friends.

Even when that frenzy was high, a few OBC students formed a pro-Mandal Commission forum. They put up their tent and sat on a dharna at Maurice Nagar crossing. It was just meters away from our Kranti Chowk. This went on for days. There was a massive division and hostility between both groups.

The pro-Mandal group sat there only for a few days and they were less in number. Yet, not a single incident of violent clash was reported. A few anti-quota protesters lost their lives due to police firing or self immolation. But not a single case of killing by another group was reported from anywhere in the country.

The anti-quota stir died down. It was followed by another politico-social division. On September 25, 1990, LK Advani took off his rath yatra from Somnath temple to Ayodhya, on the agenda of building the Ram Mandir. The slogan of saugandh Ram ki khaatein hain, mandir wohi banayenge started echoing at various forums.

The backward-forward divide was replaced by the Hindu-Muslim divide. This division went on for a few years. In our PG hostel, the maximum students were from the upper-caste and pro-Mandir. Almost everyone’s door had a sticker saying, “garv se kaho hum Hindu hai” (say with pride I am a Hindu).

But there were many upper caste Hindus who were against the BJP and the mandir. The anti-mandir group was numerically inferior yet no one used to mock them. The favourite past time was to defeat rival group with arguments, facts and logic. But no anti-mandir group student was dubbed a traitor or asked to go to Pakistan. There were also many Muslims. Not a single case of violence took place.

Even pro-mandir students loved to devour iftar snacks during Ramzan with their fellow Muslim hostel mates. The faultline was quite apparent. Yet there was place for argument and sloganeering but not violence. Tolerance and respect for others' view was plenty.

This division over nationalism seems to be legitimising violence against all kinds of dissenters. Universities are places where debate, discussion and dissent are nurtured. The present form of nationalism seems to be shrinking that space.

India has a great tradition of debate. When Shankaracharya began his debate with Mandan Mishra, he touched his feet. But in the present nationalism debate, there is no space for opposition. Sadly, the argumentative Indian is becoming the rowdy Indian.

Also read: Ramjas ABVP clash: Why they stopped Umar Khalid from speaking