Gurmehar Kaur has unwittingly, or quite willingly marched right into the centerstage of national politics. What could have been a casual sharing of personal opinion on Social Media has become a full fledged war with the Right attacking Gurmehar and the Left doing their bit to extend her their fullest possible support. Politicians, too have jumped into the fray with Opposition parties using all their power to gherao Modi government. For them, this controversy could not have come at a better time, given the elections underway in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur. Everyone surely has an opinion on the entire Gurmehar Kaur controversy, and everyone is fully entitled to their opinion, well, because of something called Freedom of Expression.
That having been said, it is important to set aside facts from fiction.
Fiction: Gurmehar Kaur’s father was strikethrough martyred in the Kargil War
Fact: Her Father, Captain Mandeep Singh was martyred during a Jihadi attack on Rashtriya Rifles camp in J&K in ’99.
It is tragic that Captain Mandeep Singh’s name had to be dragged into this rather silly controversy. Irrespective of how he was martyred, the fact remains that he gave up his life for the nation, and as a nation, we must forever remain indebted to his supreme sacrifice. That having been said, it was extremely churlish of Gurmehar to bring up her deceased father’s name and then brazenly twist the facts.
Fiction: ABVP goons threatened to rape Gurmehar Kaur
Fact: It is now emerging that rape threats against Gurmehar were made by AISF goon, Debojit Bhattacharya
Irrespective of who threatened Gurmehar with rape, fact remains that such behavior must be curbed. It is tragic that Gurmehar chose to make a show of these threats and instead of approaching the Delhi Police, filed a complaint with the Delhi Commission for Women. In fact, It was the ABVP’s National Media convenor, Saket Bahuguna, who filed a complaint on Gurmehar’s behalf before the Delhi Police. Would it not have been infinitely better for this threat to be acted against, promptly, rather than politicizing it?
Fiction: Gurmehar is just a normal college student who chose to take a stand against the ABVP?
Fact: Chances are she isn’t. Her Social Media timeline shows a definite leaning towards Aam Aadmi Party
To add to this ‘leaning’, is the fact that Gurmehar has chosen to nominate Ram Subramanian to handle any queries regarding her decision to leave the campaign against ABVP.
Ram Subramanian, interestingly has been associated with Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP as a media manager almost ever since its inception. These links, perhaps led Kiren Rijiju to wonder ‘Who’s polluting this young girl’s mind’. There are also reports that she is associated with an international organization, involved in meddling in countries’ internal affairs by spreading liberal-pacifist agenda.
With facts now having been separated from half-truths, fibs and brazen lies, it now seems likelier that Gurmehar Kaur is just another pawn, unleashed by politicians and individuals with vested interests to corner the government. Just like Kanhaiyya Kumar and Hardik Patel, Gurmehar Kaur also seems to be a creation of Media-Politician nexus and perhaps like the others she would also disappear into the oblivion in a few days’ time.
What could have been an opportunity to bring discipline into our campuses and to curtail student politics has become another opportunity for politicizing the issue. What a tragedy!
