PANJIM: While the Kargil martyr’s daughter and Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur’s crusade against ABVP’s alleged threat remarks has created quite a stir on social media, students in Goa largely remain ignorant of the controversy.
The issue has nevertheless attracted the attention of youth brigades from the BJP and Congress, who have indulged in a blame-game.
The ABVP-Konkan Region and State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha argue that Kaur should not misuse her martyred father Captain Mandeep Singh’s identity to gain unnecessary popularity.
The BJP-backed groups have denied that ABVP threatened her of rape. “We have been protesting anti-national activities since the beginning. Let her (Kaur) take legal recourse and prove her allegations,” ABVP Konkan Region Joint Secretary Amog Arlekar said.
Arlekar said he has discussed the matter with the central office in Mumbai, “Many students unions are supported by Communist Party of India,” he alleged.
“ABVP will not stoop low to threaten someone of rape. We have our strong ideology. We will kill our enemy but not resort to such shame. Kaur is lying,” Siddesh Naik chairperson of Goa University Student’s council said.
BJPYM General Secretary Sanket Arsekar too slammed Kaur for spreading false rumours. “Firstly, she has not received any threats from the ABVP. She is lying. Secondly, her anti-national activities should not be popularized by calling her the daughter of a Kargil War martyr. Her father’s legacy as a brave soldier should not be used to give popularity and fame to her posts or actions which are anti-national,” he said.
NSUI-Goa Unit, on the other end, has supported the Delhi student and alleged that a similar incident occurred on Goa University campus. “During GU elections, students are scared to carry out any activity against the BJP and its supported unions. In one such incident, our student was stalked till her house (by some ABVP students) and threatened, but we will continue to fight against the injustice and wrongdoings,” NSUI President Ahraj Mulla said as he condemned the threats to Kaur.
Interestingly, while thousands of students from across the nation are on the streets, students in Goa are oblivious. Herald spoke to students only to learn that they are unaware of the issue. “I am not aware. I will go through the news,” was the reply of a student of St Xavier College, Mapusa Harriet Fernandes. She later reverted to Herald saying Kaur’s move is inspiring as she dared to take a step against the organization, backed by the saffron party.
Similar was the reaction of another student from the college Chanelle D’Souza. “I will definitely watch the news,” she commented.
A post-graduate GU student Clisha Diniz and an undergraduate from Government College of Khandola Hrishkesh Sawant too fall in the same category. “I do not know, but will go back home and switch on the news channels to get an idea what is the whole controversy about,” she said. “I will keep myself posted on the issue now onwards,” was Sawant’s reply.
But former student leaders, Senior Advocate Cleofato Almeida Countinho and lawyer-activist Aires Rodrigues have come down heavily on the ABVP.
“It is creating fear in the country. It looks as if ABVP could not match with the student’s (Kaur) talent which is why they decided to go physical (alleged threats to her). The leftists are grounded in their ideology and their debate and talent is far better and logical,” Almeida Coutinho stated.
Rodrigues, who has been a leader of students union in the late 70s, accused the ABVP of exceeding its limits and flexing the political muscles of its parent BJP.
“Student activism encompasses student involvement in issues dealing with economic, environmental, political and social change on and off the campus. It is time that students find their voice again. Today, the social media is a very handy tool to expand the scope and strength of student activism,” Rodrigues said lending his support to Kaur.
