New Delhi sources have stated that it has been 10 days since the violent clashes In Delhi University's North Campus, but the protests refuse to die down. On Saturday, leftist groups staged another march against the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, but the rally featured issues beyond just the current campus polemic of free speech and touched on subjects that have dogged the Narendra Modi government at the centre.
Meanwhile when organized as a "citizens' march" against ABVP's role in the fracas at Ramjas College on February 22, Saturday's event turned into a forum that took on the government on issues from the increasing assaults on Dalits to the missing JNU student Najeeb Ahmed. Among those who participated in the rally were JNU student leaders Shehla Rashid Shora and Umar Khalid, whose choice as speakers at the 'Culture of Protest' seminar at Ramjas College had led to the clashes.
While the main demonstrators were students and faculty
members from Delhi University and JNU, Jignesh Mewani, face of Dalit resistance
in Gujarat, and Fatima Nafees, mother of the missing Ahmed, were conspicuous marchers.
Their faces smeared in shades of red, blue and yellow, the rallyists had raised
slogans against casteism, patriarchy and fascism.
Sources have stated that the capital has seen a series of rallies and counter rallies being organized after the clashes 10 days ago in which students as well as media personnel were assaulted and injured. Student organizations, including AISA and SFI, staged a series of protests across the city and campuses, while ABVP also hit back through demonstrations aimed at countering their accusations by stirring up patriotic passions.
