A day after fierce clashes broke out between two student groups in Delhi University, on Thursday the ABVP raised nationalism slogans and vowed that it would not allow "anti-nationals" into the varsity, while the NSUI held a peace march and condemned the violence in Ramjas College.
The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) held a peace march from Arts Faculty to Maurice Nagar Police Station in an attempt to restore peace and safety in the campus.
The peace march came in the wake of clashes between the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the left-wing All India Students' Association (AISA) outside Ramjas College on Wednesday, after the ABVP forced the suspension of an event to be addressed by JNU student Umar Khalid on February 21.
Khalid was jailed last year for allegedly shouting anti-national slogans.
"AISA and other parties have created turmoil in the campus. They have been raising slogans about the independence of Kashmir. Our country is already independent. What sort of a freedom are they demanding?" DUSU President Amit Tanwar of the ABVP questioned.
"They crossed all limits by disparaging Bharat Mata in JNU last year. There have been slogans to divide the country into pieces. They've ruined the picture of JNU and are now targeting Delhi University. We will not let that happen," Tanwar told IANS.
He justified the action of forcefully suspending the Ramjas College event, saying "anti-nationals cannot break into the university".
"Sedition charges have been filed against Umar Khalid. We cannot let an anti-national enter the campus."
"Next, we would ask the government to take action against the communist teachers in the university," he said.
The Congress student wing NSUI, in its peace march, condemned the violence in Ramjas College.
"We are saddened to see the unfortunate degradation of discourse in DU. What happened yesterday was shameful. Women were harassed during the clashes," NSUI's National President Amrita Dhawan told IANS.
"We believe in one's right to dissent and peaceful protest, but we don't endorse the atmosphere of violence that the ABVP and Left organisations has turned the campus into," she said.
"Since 2014 when BJP came into power, Delhi Police has always worked in their direction. Their student wing is endorsing fake nationalism even when their own party workers have been known to have had links with the ISI," Dhawan said.
She added, "We will not allow ABVP's agenda in the campus."
According to her party, ABVP has been "continuing thuggery with impunity" across universities in the country, curbing liberty of thoughts, ideas and discussions in academia ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014.