After JNU cancels venue, Umar Khalid book discussion held outside amid ABVP protests | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: A discussion on Umar Khalid’s book was held outside the School of Social Sciences-II building Monday after JNU withdrew permission for the programme at the auditorium. The event was, however, disrupted by ABVP members who stormed into the gathering and raised slogans.A large number of students had gathered for the discussion, with chairs arranged for the five speakers — historians Prabhu Mahapatra and Uma Chakravarti, writer Shuddhabrata Sengupta, activist Harsh Mander and Khalid’s partner Banojyotsna Lahiri. A stall outside the venue displayed Khalid’s book, Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power.JNUSU president Aditi Mishra condemned the cancellation of the auditorium booking. Saying Khalid had been “wrongly incarcerated” without trial for six years, she said, “Govt doesn’t want people to know Khalid as an activist and a historian… They know if people read the book, they will know how he loved his country.”Mahapatra, Khalid’s PhD thesis examiner, said, “The book talks about how powerful the tribes in Jharkhand were till the British came, and about the tension between class and community.”Around 10 minutes into the discussion, while Mahapatra was speaking, ABVP members entered and moved towards the stage carrying posters questioning Khalid’s views: “Has Umar Khalid not defended Afzal Guru?”, “Terror is not your freedom of expression” and “Is Umar’s father not associated with SIMI, a terror group?” An ABVP member got into a heated argument with the speakers before security personnel removed him.Counter-sloganeering continued for over 1.5 hours. JNUSU and their supporters raised slogans including “ABVP go back” and “Free Umar Khalid and Sharjeel” while ABVP members raised slogans like “Aatankwad ki kabar khudegi”.Addressing the protesters, Mander said, “Why are Modi, Shah so afraid of Khalid that he has been kept in jail for six years without trial? RSS never participated in the fight for independence. Khalid has a Muslim identity, is young, leftist and atheist, and loves his country.”Lahiri said Khalid’s PhD, on which the book is based, was the result of long hours of research. She said he had balanced his activism with academic work and spent hours in the library working on his thesis. Politics and activism, she added, were more difficult today than during their time as JNU students.Chakravarti’s speech was disrupted by counter-sloganeering. Sengupta addressed the protesters amid the continuing disruption, with their speeches repeatedly interrupted.ABVP members questioned why Khalid’s book was being discussed instead of works by other scholars on Adivasi communities. They also asked the speakers whether they considered Kashmir to be a part of India.The disruption continued till around 4.30 pm. Security personnel intervened when the situation became unruly.There was no response from the JNU VC or registrar.
