Mumbai's ABVP wing says people are hearing only one side of a narrative

Ashish Chauhan, Rohit Chandode

Ashish Chauhan (l) and Rohit Chandode make a point at their office in Matunga. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

The fires of Ramjas incident have singed Mumbai and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) image, has been burnt to a crisp. The student arm of the RSS, "has already been painted and tainted as goondas and thugs," says Mumbai's top brass, Rohit Chandode, ABVP secretary Mumbai Mahanagar and Ashish Chauhan, ABVP's ex-national secretary and the Mahanagar Organising Secretary, from their office in Matunga.

Here, Rohit and Ashish takes questions about the national and anti-national stance which has become part of the simmering side syllabus, elections, and not being sophisticated enough for SoBo colleges…

Q: Recent protests in Delhi, and Mumbai paint you (ABVP) as villain…
ABVP: There is a one-sided picture being painted.. For instance a March 2 protest against the ABVP had eight persons. Only eight. Yet it was given extensive coverage and made out to be a mammoth one.

Q: Tell me about the recent Ramjas/Umar Khalid incident, where the ABVP seems to have taken centre stage…
ABVP: What you do not know is that first, it was the Students Union within the Ramjas College that first opposed Umar Khalid. The opposition was within the campus itself. Slogans were raised that called for the break up of the country, it was anti-national. When this happens on the campuses we will also speak against it.

Q: What is anti-national? Spell it out for me. What do you mean by 'anti-national' slogans? What did they say?
ABVP: The slogans were: Bastar maange Azaadi… Kashmir Maange Azaadi… this calls for the break up of India. We will not allow that. People say that discourse and debate is part of academic life. But these slogans are 'gaalis'. Universities who tout free speech do not allow or will never invite a speaker like Subramaniam Swamy to speak. That is because he is very blunt. Where is all that so called freedom, then?

Q: You (the ABVP) were blamed in the Gurmehar Kaur controversy…
ABVP: Try to understand the strategy. You prop up certain people and weave a story around them. Last year, Kanhaiya Kumar was the flavour, now a better speaker has come in, in the form of Shehla Rashid. We never threatened Gurmehar. Some sweeping reportage states that she is the daughter of a Kargil martyr.

Do a google check. Gurmehar's father was slain when a post in Jammu & Kashmir came under attack in 1999. That unit was stationed there to provide security to Amarnath Yatra pilgrims. He was killed (martyred) because of an Islamist terrorist attack. No disrespect to him at all, we are citing this as an example of irresponsible reporting about this affair.

Q: Student Council elections are back this year…
The ABVP is not seen as sophisticated enough for SoBo colleges… you have an image problem…
ABVP: (They laugh). We will make inroads there too. We do agree there is an image problem. We have been given a certification of goondas by the media.