After the refusal of the authorities of Jammu University to give permission to the ABVP to hold any function on the campus, in an unfortunate move many colleges of the State have decided to debar the organisation
“BJP Ministers take up Jammu University Vice Chancellor’s obstinate behaviour against ABVP. Action will be taken” tweeted Ram Madhav, National General Secretary of BJP. He also shared the picture of a news paper report which talked about BJP complaining about Vice Chancellor R D Sharma’s behavior in the cabinet meeting held in Srinagar. The issue Ram Madhav tweeted on was related to the decision of Vice Chancellor of Jammu University in which Vice Chancellor had banned activities of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the campuses of the colleges affiliated to the Jammu University.
According to reports, the ABVP had requested for the permission from the Government Women’s College, Jammu, for holding its national executive committee meeting. The permission for the meeting was not granted by the university authorities, even though deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh was to be the guest for the event. In the past, on the Martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Rajgugu and Sukhdev in March, ABVP wasn’t allowed to organise a blood donation camp on the campus. ABVP had to organise the camp outside the campus. Assembly speaker Kavinder Gupta had participated in the event as chief guest.
In the cabinet meeting held in Srinagar on May 23, the issue was raised by Industries and Commerce Minister of Jammu & kashmir Chander Prakash Ganga. During the meeting he referred to the denial of permission to ABVP to organise a blood donation camp on the campus. Other ministesr from the BJP also have accused R D Sharma of being hostile to student organisations, especially ABVP. BJP ministers have demanded Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s intervention against alleged restrictions on political activities of Jammu University students. Ministers have asked Mehbooba to direct Education Minister Naeem Akhtar to look into the matter.
“Why only ABVP? The university should allow activity by all student organisations on campus,’’ said Sat Sharma, state BJP president and MLA from Jammu West. He also said that BJP will raise the issue in the Assembly during the budget session.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh also responded by saying that, “We are the world’s largest democracy and such restrictions on student organisations in the 21st century cannot be tolerated and constructive activities like blood donation camps should be allowed.”
In his defence, Prof R D Sharma said, “They are free to carry out any activity as students of the university, but not as members of a students’ organisation having known political affiliation.”
“ABVP has not been singled out and all student outfits with political links have been barred. We have implemented rules of Jammu University. They were not framed by me but existed much before me,” Sharma told PTI.
BJP state president, Sat Sharma contradicted the Vice Chancellor by saying that student bodies must not be disallowed from holding welfare events and blood donation camps as these are not political activities, expressing his dissatisfaction with the new rule.
Assembly speaker Kavinder Gupta has also termed the move as unfortunate and related it to depriving the organisation of its political rights.
State ABVP organising secretary Shalinder Tiwari claimed that some elements in the administration had not been ‘treating the organisation properly’. He claimed that some forces in the administration had been trying to discourage “nationalist” people in Jammu and Kashmir. Arvind
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