Of student politics, mobsters & your vote

Amarjot Kaur

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The chest-thumping show of power during student council elections has been oscillating between bullets, gangsters, and violence. Monday’s clash between NSUI and  allegedly ABVP in Chandigarh, and SOPU’s absconding campus chairman Sampat Nehra, a close friend of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi of Lawrence Bishnoi Group-SOPU, who aided Deepak Kumar’s escape from the custody of the Panchkula police on June 17, are only but recent examples of gangster culture in student politics. 

There are also a few student unions in Punjab that are named after gangsters and their gangs. Ironically, all of them have a common ideology—“save girls, respect women, say no to drugs, save the environment and help the poor.”

On the Facebook page of Gandhi Group Student Union (GGSU), which garners a following of 13,996 people, are pictures of gangster Rupinder Gandhi (a former PUSU president) and trailers of two Punjabi-film sequels about his life. The first instalment of the film was titled Rupinder Gandhi The Gangster..? and its sequel, tentatively releasing on August 25, is titled Rupinder Gandhi 2: The Robinhood, going by the posters online.

Mission mode

Sukhmeet Singh, the Haryana state president of GGSU, 25, asks us to watch the film about the gangster before he begins telling us about their student party. He adds, “His name was Rupinder Singh Aujla and he was born on October 2. So, people fondly called him Rupinder Gandhi. GGSU was formed in 2003 after he died and Harman Virk became the first president. Most people here regard him as an icon and we aid his vision of helping the poor and protecting women. GGSU is functional in every district of Punjab, and in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat and Ambala. We started with 10,000 followers and have now grown in lakhs.” He shares that their fight is also directed against drug abuse in Punjab. “Rupinder Gandhi used to drink and he said that drinks ruined him. So, we fight against drug addiction too. We are not violent though,” he says. GGSU’s Facebook posts are often promoted on another page called God Father of Punjab Gangsters, which is followed by 5,000 people. 

No violence, please

Yet another student union from Moga (going by Facebook posts) is named after Punjab’s gangster Gurshahid Singh aka Shera Khuban, who later formed the Shera Khuban Gang of which Nabha Jail escapee and gangster Vicky Gounder is a part of. There is no Facebook page dedicated to the group, but a series of posts on Shera Khuban Ale’s page leads us to the now inactive Shera Khuban Student Union. Their former president Beant Brar says, “The student union was formed a year-and-a-half ago. Ever since the Nabha Jailbreak happened, we have been inactive. Also, we promote women’s safety, helping the poor and advocate against drug addiction in Punjab. We don’t indulge in unnecessary violence.”

Let peace prevail

A slain Punjabi gangster called Sukha Kahlon, who was killed in a gang war in January 2015, too has a student union named after him, at least on Facebook. Sukha Kahlon Student Union (SKSU) has no clear administrator for the page, but it eulogises the gangster keeping pace with his notoriety and sharing his videos with Punjabi songs galore. SKSU echoes the goals of GGSU and Shera Khuban Student Union, and has 1,478 followers.

Students Organisation of Panjab University’s Lawrence Bishnoi group—SOPU has not been active for two years, we are told. Their Facebook page has 749 followers. Vicky Middukhera, 29, now Chandigarh head of Students’ Organisation of India (SOI), was one of Bishnoi’s accomplices and SOPU member when Bishnoi opened fire at rival Uday Warring, former president of PUSU (Panjab University Students Union) in 2010 in Chandigarh. “There were seven others in that case and I was acquitted of charges against me in 2014,” says Middukhera.

He informs that most members of SOPU have either joined NSUI or SOI now. “We want a non-violent and peaceful atmosphere in the university. Mostly, outsiders create violence. Last year, SOI president was shot at and that too in the Student Centre. Why do authorities allow outsiders in PU in the first place? Also, even those who are not studying at PU are contesting for student council elections; this should not be allowed,” he signs off.

amarjot@tribunemail.com