Lady Shri Ram is the new JNU

JNU has only made headlines for spearheading issues of separatism, secessionism, and terrorism in the last few years. The university only created ideological soldiers who thought completing PhDs in African Studies was the only way to contribute to society. However, we have a new JNU in making. Any guess, which college it is? Let me introduce you to this newly formed duplicate of JNU.

A new JNU in making 

In what can be seen as a disappointing development, Delhi’s top-notch college Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) has stepped in with the decision to call off a talk by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan. Notably, the talk was suggested to be held on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti on Thursday (April 14). However, the session named ‘Ambedkar Beyond Constitution’, organised by LSR’s SC/ST cell was rescinded as Left student unions in general and the Students Federation of India (SFI) in specific were not happy and opposed the session.

In response to this development to cancel the event, Paswan said that it was a sign of “institutionalisation of cancel culture” in the country.

“Can the subaltern speak? Not at one of the premier institutions of country, Lady Sriram College, University of Delhi,” Paswan said.

He further added, “On what account was my voice stifled? My ideas or my identity, regardless of that this is a great to the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar. An institution can’be an Eco chamber. As a teaching faculty this saddens me even more when students close their horizon!”

Astha Kumari, the organiser of the event for LSR, wrote a text message to Paswan informing him about the cancellation of the event. She said that the talk was cancelled in view of the recent incidents in Karnataka and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

“We regret to inform you that the talk that we had scheduled on Ambedkar Jayanti, on 14th April needs to be called off. There has been no such order from the administration, however, there has been huge outcry from the student body stating their disagreement with this talk,” she said.

“This is a reaction based on a mix of recent developments in Karnataka and JNU. Since, we would like to refrain the atmosphere of the SC/ST Cell, especially LSR from becoming a political space instead of academic one, it was in the best interest of the institution to cancel the event,” Kumari added.

A look at the controversial history of LSR

Earlier as reported by TFI in 2017, an event named ‘Culture of protest’ was organized by the English department and literary society of Ramjas College. This led to a scuffle between left-wing student organizations (led by AISA) and ABVP. Notably, the reason for the protest by the ABVP was not the event but the invitees to the event. Those invited to the event included Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid.

Read more: No Gurmehar Kaur, Every student of India is not with you!

Then entered Gurmehar Kaur in the picture. She was an undergraduate English literature student at Lady Shri Ram College for women. Opposing the protest by ABVP, she posted a photo on Facebook holding a placard. The content of the placard is as follows “I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP”

However, the thumping victory of ABVP in the then year election proved that not every student was supporting Gurmehar.

Gurmehar through her campaign wants the world to believe that anti-India elements like Khalid had the right to continue with their propaganda to destroy the fabric called India, but ABVP activists/students who opposed him are a bunch of hooligans.

You see, Lady Shri Ram has completely turned into a new JNU. JNU is believed to be intolerant towards any nationalistic approach and now same is the case with LSR. Well, it is unfortunate to witness students at such prominent colleges fall for anti-national propaganda rather than leading India to become a global power.