The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of Jawaharlal Nehru University on Thursday staged a Ravan Dahan event in which former JNU students and anti-CAA activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam were depicted as Ravan, which the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) called a “deliberate attempt to exploit religion and spread Islamophobia.”
In response, JNUSU organized a protest demonstration, forming a human chain despite rain-related delays.
During the protest, ABVP supporters allegedly responded with abuse, chanting slogans such as “Godse ki Jai” (“Hail Godse”), “Sharjeel Imam ko phansi do” (“Hang Sharjeel Imam”), and “Umar Khalid ko phansi do” (“Hang Umar Khalid”).
Condemning it, they said, “Umar and Sharjeel have been imprisoned for five years. Their cases are still under trial, and bail has been repeatedly denied on flimsy grounds. Yet the ABVP chose to hold a public trial on the streets.”
JNUSU President Nitish Kumar described the events, stating “Around 9–10 am today, a poster started circulating in our groups, announcing a ‘Ravan Dahan.’ Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who were students of this campus and had propelled a movement to protect the citizenship of this country, were portrayed as Ravan. Resisting that, we issued a call from JNUSU that they cannot do this and that it is wrong.”
He alleged that “They are not burning the effigy of Godse, but attempts are being made to burn effigies of the Constitution and human rights defenders.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
