BJP stumped by young idealists

In the confrontation between the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Leftist students in the various campuses, the saffron brotherhoods muscular nationalism is facing stiff resistance not so much from the traditional politicians, despite their occasional interventions, as from the students.

Since the latter are seen to be driven more by unsullied ideology than any cunning political calculations, the BJP has not found it easy to deal with these young idealists. Its tactics have swayed back and forth, therefore, from outright condemnation of what the ABVP's opponents have been saying to an acknowledgment of the sincerity of the youthful Left-leaning activists.

Nothing has shown the BJP's indecisiveness more than its varied responses to the 20-year-old Delhi student, Gurmehar Kaur's straightforward challenge to the ABVP, the Sangh parivar's student wing – "I am not afraid of the ABVP."

For the saffronties, who wear their patriotism on their sleeves, the issue has been complicated by the fact that Gurmehar is the daughter of a soldier who died in a terrorist attack. They have had to tread carefully, therefore, when criticising her.

Even then, some in the BJP have tried to push the envelope as far as they could by depicting her as a pawn in the hands of the Leftist parties. Hence, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju's loaded question: who's polluting the mind of this young girl? A Mysuru MP of the BJP even went to the extent of comparing her with Dawood Ibrahim, which prompted Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to say that the parliamentarian was "wrong.”

Perhaps realising that the party was going too far in its criticism of the daughter of a martyr, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has called her a daughter of India. Nevertheless, it is clear that the BJP finds it easier to lambaste Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav than deal with adversaries like Gurmehar.

This is not the first time that the BJP and the ABVP have been in a similar quandary. Last year, the ABVP retreated into a shell for a while after Rohith Vemula, a Dalit student of University of Hyderabad, committed suicide in the aftermath of a clash between the ABVP and the Ambedkar Students Association, to which Rohith belonged.

A few weeks after that tragedy, the ABVP became involved in skirmishes with the Left-leaning students of New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which the BJP MP, Subramanian Swamy, wanted to be closed down and fumigated.

Now, the scene has shifted to the colleges of the University of Delhi after the ABVP protested against the invitation sent to a JNU student, Umar Khalid, to attend a seminar in Ramjas college. Its objections to Khalid's presence were that he made anti-national speeches in JNU.

Whatever public disorder there has been can be said to be due to the intolerance of those who are unable to accept viewpoints other than their own and, therefore, target the "alliance of subversion" in the name of nationalism. At the same time, since the opposing groups carry political labels, the battles on the campuses are likely to ebb and flow in accordance with the political currents outside.

Besides, there is a distinct possibility that new political personalities will emerge from these skirmishes which will be beneficial for democracy.

By: Amulya Ganguli