Protest at Mandi House against ABVP: MPs vow to take Ramjas to Parliament

MPs and leaders from Left parties, JD(U) and Swaraj India were speaking at a march, from Mandi House to Parliament, to protest against the “ABVP’s gundagardi”.

“Jab Parliament khulega, ye sawaal uthana zaruri hai, sarkar ko kathgare me daalne ke liye (Once Parliament is in session, this question is necessary to hold the government accountable). We will definitely raise the issue in Parliament and see if they allow a discussion, although it is becoming increasingly difficult. It is your right to make your own decisions in life… and that somebody should impose their thoughts on you is not acceptable to us. Who says what, or wears what, is not something that the BJP and ABVP can decide. Judging who is anti-national or not is itself an anti-national and anti-constitutional thing,” CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

D Raja from the CPI said, “We need to ask — who is disrupting peace and normalcy in our campuses? Who is responsible for the unrest? It’s none other than ABVP… This isn’t an ABVP versus Left fight; it’s a fight between ABVP and the rest of the country.”

K C Tyagi from the JD(U) said he would raise the issue as well. “When Parliament reopens, we will give voice to your concerns. Ye desh kisi ke baap ka nahi hai,” he said.

Stating that this was a clear case of “gundagardi” and not about freedom of expression, Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said, “There is a need to save the nationalism of our country — which is the nationalism that connected us to people of other countries such as South Africa.”

Yadav added that a fight for autonomy of universities would have to begin by condemning attacks on it by not just the BJP government, but also by the previous Congress government and the Left government in West Bengal.