I saw ABVP shout 'Pakistan zindabad' - JNU student recounts the night of February 9
I saw a poster outside my hostel, Taapti, and it read, A City without a Post Office, a documentary. We are all aware of the fact that hanging of Afzal Guru has been a much debated political event. A few friends and I decided to attend the cultural event where this documentary was being screened. It's common for a JNU student to attend such screenings and political debates on campus after classes in the evenings.
I do not recall a particular group organising the film, but when I reached, a public meeting along with the screening was about to begin. Before the event commenced, I saw a group of ABVP students coming towards Sabarmati Dhaba from the administrative block and began protesting against the screening.
From among the people who had come to attend the event, who I think were neither the organisers nor the supporters of any movement, started reasoning with the ABVP; asking them to let the event take place peacefully. They urged them to debate and dialogue instead. But their requests fell on deaf ears as the ABVP students threatened to call the police and started shouting slogans.
The "problematic" slogans started with this group. Their slogans - "Bharat Mata ki jai", "Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak Bharat hamara hai", "Afzal ke saathi hain unko ham maar dalenge", "Jitne aap Afzal paida karenge utne hum jawaan paida karenge". They even went on to say "Aapko cheer denge".
Then the other group started the sloganeering - "Kashmir maange azaadi, bolne ki azaadi". The slogans from this camp were pretty straightforward, us JNU students, hear them occasionally - "Bolne ki azaadi, khap se azaadi, baap se azaadi, dissent ki azaadi".
The slogans that are being spoken about or written about in the media, such as - "Bharat ki barbaadi hogi" or "Afzal paida hoga", weren't to my best belief spoken by any political leader from JNUSU. It is simple, if you are a part of JNUSU, or any Left-aligned organisation, you will never commit the mistake of sloganeering inside the campus.
I am a second year masters' student in political science at JNU. When things started heating up on February 9, there were people, whom I had never seen take part in any union work or any political organisation in my two years at JNU.
There were merely three to four people who were shouting out these controversial slogans. But they shouted the slogan "Har ghar mein Afzal paida hoga", they were immediately stopped from creating an unnecessary furore. In the mean time, the police and media were already at the campus and the issue had escalated.
It is shocking that 20 people can stop you from conducting a public meeting and provoke others through divisive slogans. I feel these people weren't from JNU as the students here are aware of the political consequences and choose to dissent through peaceful means. The JNUSU representatives kept urging people to maintain calm, lest it should get violent and physical.
As the meeting was cancelled, the JNU students started leaving. What I found suspicious was seeing the ABVP group walking out along with the students in the same direction. I thought, why would they do that when they got what they wanted? It was then, that I saw a boy and a girl from ABVP shouting - "Pakistan zindabad". I was perplexed at first, but now it all fits.
If you see the video from that day, you'll see the boy even repeating the slogan. The protest against the public meeting was planned as the posters were all over the campus days before it was supposed to happen. But why did they choose to protest a few minutes before the meeting when everyone had gathered?
The next day, all the Left organisations along with the student community, condemned the divisive sloganeering. Yet the students were branded anti-nationals for shouting Azaadi slogans. When the December 16 protests were happening, didn't people ask for azaadi to speak? Were they branded anti-nationals then?
Everyone condemned the slogans in JNU and agreed that what happened on February 9 could have been avoided. The ABVP simply labelled the ones who were present as anti-nationals. It is a grave charge against the student community here.
The biggest shock, however, was Kanhaiya's arrest, while ABVP students who have now been identified, faced no such action. I noticed Kanhaiya in the crowd only when he jumped in to stop an altercation between a boy and a girl when people were trying to reason with the ABVP. It is a negative message being sent out to the students by arresting their democratically elected representative.
The night before Kanhaiya was arrested, the police decided to barge into the hostel rooms without a search warrant and many were asked to show their ID cards. A few when asked them for a search warrant were answered with "Ye US nahi hai". This is nothing but an attempt to create an atmosphere of fear.
There is a pattern that has emerged from the way the ABVP workers function in the campus. Even before the screening of Muzzafarnagar Baaqi Hai they created a ruckus, even broke a few pieces of furniture. During a general body meeting close to elections, another ABVP worker came to the meeting and tried to provoke the members by talking about Yakub Menon and his supporters in the campus. He even said, "Aise musalmano'n ko baahar phenk dena chahiye". A similar incident took place when Caste on the Menu Cards was being screened. It is not unusual to see an ABVP worker resort to hooliganism and sexism in the campus. My ideological difference with the ABVP students is that they do not engage or debate, they indulge in provocation and violence. Why is it that they refuse to see beyond an upper class Brahmin narrative?
Our Constitution allows us the right to debate, dialogue and dissent. JNU celebrates the spirit of speaking and expressing oneself. I have seen JNU participate in many great movements. During Occupy UGC, the common man probably didn't know about the fellowships that were being denied to the students, it was JNU that brought this to light and took the plea of the students forward, later other universities also showed their solidarity.
If you talk to JNU students, most of them will admit to not having an issue with the state. It is the regime and its policies that we question. Some basic demands are - Don't discriminate on the basis of caste and don't deny the students their fellowship.
(As told to Ursila Ali)