Freedom of expression fine, but what of national interest, asks Dwivedi

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 1

Known to speak his mind, veteran Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi on Wednesday questioned the growing “politicisation” of student movements saying these are now planned and no longer spontaneous.

Close on the heels of the clash between ABVP and SFI supporters on Ramjas College campus and the consequent controversial post by Gurmehar Kaur, who said she was not afraid of the ABVP, Dwivedi said, “This is unfortunate. It is not a question of the freedom of expression of one student. It is a larger question; it’s a question of how a generation behaves and whether all this is in the interest of the nation. The whole atmosphere is getting vitiated. This can have grave consequences,” Dwivedi said, remembering his own days at Allahabad University when student movements “germinated on their own and political parties joined them later”.

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The AICC general secretary (organisation) held all political parties responsible for the politicisation of student affairs, saying, “The movement for educational reforms was at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s. Those were the times when academic reform and issues moved along with each other. These days issues are not meant to solve problems. Issues are planned and then politicised. Who says there should not be freedom of expression? But parties must take responsibility for taking sides on such an issue and then making political capital out of it,” said Dwivedi, pointing to the need for introspection at a time when every party has a student wing.

To drive home his advice to political parties to leave campuses alone, Dwivedi recalled a visit by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Allahabad University campus and how Nehru then advised students to just “study”.

“This advice came from a man who led the youth in the struggle for India’s independence and someone who nursed socialist sentiment in the Congress,” said Dwivedi, taking a line independent of the Congress on the issue of Gurmehar Kaur.

Dwivedi’s comments came on a day when the Congress’s student wing, NSUI, held a march in favour of Kaur’s “right to free speech”. The march was attended by some senior Congress leaders.

Dwivedi has courted controversy in the past for saying things he considers right, whether or not they gel with the party’s official line.

He had welcomed demonetisation as a “socialist measure”. Earlier, he had argued for reservations on the basis of economic status, inviting a rebuttal from Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Post BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha win, Dwivedi had said, “This is a win for Indian-ness.”

Head of Congress’s communications and media department for years, Dwivedi no longer represents the official voice. As one insider says, “The leadership may not like what he says but every party needs conscience-keepers and Dwivedi is one for the Congress.”

Cong officially backs Gurmehar

Dwivedi’s advice apart, Congress media head Randeep Surjewala on Wednesday backed Gurmehar and again attacked the BJP for not coming out in support of the girl who “called the bluff of ABVP goons”. “After the note ban, the Narendra Modi government wants ‘zuban-bandi’ and ‘soch-bandi’, a ban on speech and thought,” he said.

Surjewala said Kaur was harassed online as she dared to speak against the ABVP.