New Delhi: Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday protested outside a Delhi University college against the participation of JNU student Umar Khalid, who was charged with sedition last year, at an event as a speaker.
The Ramjas College called off the seminar being held on campus.
Khalid was scheduled to speak in the afternoon on ‘The War in Adivasi Areas’ at an event titled ‘Cultures of Protest’.
However, even before he could arrive, members of the ABVP and Delhi University Students’ Union disrupted the proceedings.
As per The Financial Express, the ABVP activists locked students and teachers of the College inside the campus.
Meanwhile, Umar Khalid took to Facebook and wrote the following posts:
"We will disfigure your face in a way that you will be unrecognisable" - an ABVP goon to one of the organisers of today's seminar at Ramjas College! They also threatened and abused teachers of Ramjas College. Such open brazennes is possible only because of the insititional impunity ABVP goons enjoy in universities.”
“Now, Delhi Police tells the organisers (students and teachers of Ramjas College) that it will not protect me, or the organisers from any attack by ABVP. And according to the Delhi Police, organisers will be held responsible for any violence by ABVP. Wow! 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.”
Meanwhile, Ramjas College's principal, Rajendra Prasad, told Hindustan Times that they have cancelled the participation of Umar Khalid after students raised objections.
“Previously, some other college had also cancelled permission for Umar’s talk,” Prasad said, adding: “I told the (protesting) students they should confront ideas and not people. They should engage the other party in dialogue. But we had to cancel the participation of two people in view of the situation in college”.
