ABVP march at PHQ a damp squib as classes resume at DU

The month of March has brought a whirlwind of marches and counter marches after the Ramjas riot rocked North Campus. However, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) march near the Delhi Police Headquarters saw the students' group lose momentum as the wind left their sails and a motley crew of less than 40 protestors turned up for the event.

The protestors comprised of top leaders of the ABVP, including Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) president Amit Tanwar, ex-DUSU president Satender Awana, and the notorious Saurabh Sharma, former student leader of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The protestors came out waving saffron flags and protested against the police inaction over the 'anti-national sloganeering' event, which took place in JNU on February 9 last year. Many of them had assailed the police over inaction in the incident and for not filing a charge-sheet into the incident.

"It has been over a year and still the Delhi Police have not filed a charge-sheet against the anti-nationals who raised slogans against the country.

Is one year not enough to take action against anti-nationals," said Tanwar.

Several media reports had come out which had claimed that former JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was at the centre of controversy in the February 9 event, was given a clean chit by the investigators. Delhi Police Joint Commissioner of Police (South Western Range) Dependra Pathak did not confirm the developments, instead said that it was premature to comment on the issue.

However, the development had caught many ABVP members by surprise who claimed that the report was untrue. They also said that even if Kanhaiya's name was cleared he should have taken adequate measures to stop the 'anti-national' events as he was the JNUSU president at the time.

When the ABVP cadres failed to find any more supporters, they stood up on the police barricades and raised slogans, with the curious police personnel watching on. "We could not get many people because teachers from several colleges are refusing to give students marks if they join our march. They even give bonus marks for those who join AISA's (All India Students Association) march," said Mahamedhaa Nagar, former National Executive Council member, ABVP.

When asked about the death and rape threats given to Gurmehar Kaur, Awana said: "We are in support of the girl. If she is receiving such threats, she must upload the screen shots of the threats on social networking sites and come clean over the incident".