ABVP takes out ‘tiranga yatra’

Tribune News Service 

Chandigarh, August 21

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), students’ wing of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), resorted to its core ideology on nationalism and launched its election campaign at Panjab University (PU) with a ‘tiranga yatra’ on Tuesday. 

The ABVP activists carried huge tricolours while moving in a chain. The rally started from the Vice-Chancellor’s office and culminated at the Students Centre on the PU Campus. 

The activists claimed of carrying out ‘tiranga yatras’ ever since the tricolour was burnt at Lal Chowk in Srinagar in 1990. 

During speeches, it was leftists and particularly the Students for Society (SFS), which faced the wrath and anger of the ABVP leaders. 

The idea seemed to evoke patriotism among students by projecting that the country is in danger. The JNU incident of raising slogans against the country involving Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar were cited as the examples. The struggle in Kashmir against militants and sacrifice of Capt Vikram Batra, Capt Vijayant Thapar and Maj Sandeep Sagar was also elaborated to evoke emotions. 

Not only slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ were raised, but ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogan was also raised by the activists.

‘Deh Shiva Bar Mohe Hai’, a 17th century hymn written by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, was also recited. 

But why only leftists are targeted? Harmanjot Gill, member, the central working committee of the ABVP, said: “Winning elections is not important. In the last four years, separatists have reached campus and have tried to break the country. Someone has to take the burden of stopping them. They have entered our campus too. But educational institutions will not be allowed to become centres of separatism.” 

Saurabh Kapoor, Punjab state secretary of the ABVP, said: “They say the Army rapes women. Maj Sandeep Sagar, Capt Vikram Batra and Capt Vijayant Thapar had laid their lives for the country. They say Kashmir should be a part of Pakistan. I ask them, is it their father’s property?”

He said: “These people raise slogans like ‘Afzal Hum Sharminda Hain, Tere Katil Zinda Hain’. We have to identify the real enemies.”