Join JNUSU protest demo at UP Bhawan tomorrow at 3 pm sharp against the harassment and eviction of Kashmiri students in a Meerut university and the slapping of sedition charges against 67 Kashmiri students. On 2 Mar, 2014 students of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut were watching a cricket match between India and Pakistan in the community hall of the hostel. Kashmiri students were beaten up when they celebrated the victory of Pakistan cricket team, to which they retaliated. Following this, 67 Kashmiri students were suspended for 3 days from the University and were even asked to evacuate their hostels. This situation left them with no other option but to return to Kashmir for three days with their luggage. This is a shocking display of majoritarianism which seeks to turn even sports and culture into spaces of communal warmongering. The University authorities said that the Kashmiri students had committed an “anti-national act” by cheering for Pakistan cricket team. How is cheering for any cricket team other than India “anti-national”? Nowehere does the Constitution mention that cheering for another cricket team is “anti-national”. Even if that were the case, how exactly would that apply to, say, the Indian Premier League matches where sportspersons of various nationalities play in a single team? Again, how would it apply to English Premier League football matches in which Indians enthusiastically cheer for various English clubs, knowing fully well the atrocities that England had committed on Indians as an occupier? It is completely acceptable in India to cheer for English artists and foreign tennis players, even against an Indian tennis player. The deliberate and repeated attempts to turn cricket into a ground for testing the loyalty of people reeks of a communal mindset that serves no purpose, except to weaken the very idea of India. These communalists have no contribution in the freedom struggle of India nor do they raise their voice when big businesses are given a free hand to exploit the countrys resources. Their claims of nationalism are as hollow as their allegations of disloyalty against any minority of this country. How is it that they never speak out against communal violence perpetrated on the minorities of this country? These are the very forces which keep on insisting that “Kashmir is an integral part of India” without even once speaking up against the atrocities being committed on Kashmiris inside and outside Kashmir. Further, the administrative high-handedness in this issue is is unacceptable but not unprecedented. No action has been taken against the non-Kashmiri students involved in the incident. Not even a mere fine was imposed on them for engaging in physical violence. The rationale for suspending the Kashmir students en masse is interesting- the university claims that these students were sent home in order to prevent any communal breakout in Meerut, as it is a “volatile” constituency. Instead of protecting and upholding their democratic rights, the police and administration confess thieir helplesness vis-a-vis the communal fascists. It is sad that the university authorities as well as the police have internalised the Sanghi agenda and are dancing to the tune of the communal fascists in anticipation of the master-rioter Narendra Modis ascent to throne. We ask: What was the need to evict them from the hostels, besides suspending them, if not to impose collective punishment upon them? 2) Why was no action taken against the non-Kashmiri students for indulging in physical violence when Kashmiri students were punished for merely shouting slogans, first by the violent lumpens and then by the administration? 3) What is the guarantee that, after the students are back from Kashmir after “3 days”, they wont be targeted again? “3 days” is no magic number which will resolve the communal tensions being fueled by the Sangh on a daily basis. The poison of communal hatred will only spread further if the perpetrators are let off and the victims punished- be it in the colleges of Meerut, Haryana and Delhi or in Gujarat....
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 03:52:58 +0000
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