The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) hand was clearly visible in the armed goons storming into Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the evening of January 5 and beating students and faculty members, though another little known RSS-affiliate had claimed the credit, like terrorist organisations do. ABVP has over the years become a rowdy and lawless outfit. The late Ram Naresh Yadav, as Governor of Madhya Pradesh, had become like a lackey of BJP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan so much so that his name had also appeared as a beneficiary of the Vyapam mega scam. Even he had become wary of ABVP’s lawlessness. In February 2013, he wrote a stern letter to Chouhan asking him to keep a check on the anarchic ABVP activists. “They are indulging in unlawful activities and polluting the academic atmosphere in the State”, the Governor’s letter to the CM said.
ABVP had become a menace to the society after Chouhan became Chief Minister at the end of November 2005. Chouhan, who was once himself an ABVP activist was providing full protection to the Parishad’s criminal activities. Chouhan’s police personnel, including top IPS officers, were behaving most abominably where ABVP was involved. The State police chief was holding a meeting of police officers of the region in Indore. Activists of ABVP and Bajrang Dal went to submit a memorandum to the DGP and were prevented from entering the room by the Havaldar on guard duty with the observation that the meeting was on. The havaldar was manhandled by the goons. The DGP dare not take action against ABVP/Bajrang Dal activists.
Chouhan had virtually lost his sleep when six hard-core ABVP activists were arrested for the murder of Ujjain Professor H S Sabharwal. The Chief Minister had a 20-minute one-to-one talk with Vimal Tomar, one of the six accused then in police custody. Allegedly at Chouhan’s direction, the police and forensic investigations were subverted to ensure acquittal of the ABVP leaders. As the witnesses (even the policemen who were eye-witnesses) started turning hostile, the murdered Professor’s son Himanshu knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court.
At Rajiv Gandhi Government College in Mandsaur in September 2018, some ABVP activists went to submit a memorandum to the principal. They were shouting slogans in the corridor. Professor Dinesh Gupta, who was taking the class in one of the rooms there, came out and asked the activists not to shout slogans as it was disturbing the teaching. Enraged at the audacity of the professor to ask them not to raise patriotic slogans, the activists almost pounced on him and called him ‘anti-national’. A video that went viral soon after the incident on September 28 showed the Professor, a heart patient, apologising profusely and touching the feet of the ABVP activists. He was heard mumbling “Maine Padhane Ka Apraadh Kiya Hai. Mein Maafi Maangta Hun” (I have committed the crime of teaching. I apologise).
Chouhan had virtually lost his sleep when six hard-core ABVP activists were arrested for the murder of Ujjain Professor H S Sabharwal. The Chief Minister had a 20-minute one-to-one talk with Vimal Tomar, one of the six accused then in police custody. Allegedly at Chouhan’s direction, the police and forensic investigations were subverted to ensure acquittal of the ABVP leaders. As the witnesses (even the policemen who were eye-witnesses) started turning hostile, the murdered Professor’s son Himanshu knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court.
It seems Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in Malegaon bomb blast case and Lok Sabha member from Bhopal, got her training in lawlessness during her days in ABVP. She was an ABVP activist for several years and also a member of the national executive of the ABVP. Chouhan, too, has held several important positions in ABVP for a number of years and his bond with the Malegaon blast accused is said to go back to the period when they were in ABVP.
A division bench comprising Arijit Payasat and D K Jain stayed the proceedings in the Ujjain court and asked the BJP government of the State, through its counsel: “What action have you taken against those police officers who resiled from their earlier statements? Would not the trial be a mockery if your police officers turned hostile? Our anxiety is that every police officer will be given a clean chit. We have seen what has happened in the Best Bakery case.” The trial was transferred from Ujjain to Nagpur where the Additional Sessions Judge acquitted the ABVP activists with the observation that the prosecution could not put up proper evidence before the court.
It seems Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in Malegaon bomb blast case and Lok Sabha member from Bhopal, got her training in lawlessness during her days in ABVP. She was an ABVP activist for several years and also a member of the national executive of the ABVP. Chouhan, too, has held several important positions in ABVP for a number of years and his bond with the Malegaon blast accused is said to go back to the period when they were in ABVP.
ABVP activists are in their vilest in the BJP-ruled States where they are assured of police protection. Delhi, with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah behind them, provides the best arena for their anti-academic and anti-social activities.
The views expressed here, are author’s personal opinion.
