“ABVP go back” shouted several students of Miranda House when members of the students’ group attempted to present their manifesto at the institute’s auditorium on Monday.
Video footage of the event went viral on social media with several Twitter users lauding the students.
The sloganeering was in protest against the ABVP’s hooliganism and violence, regularly perpetrated on campus, said Shreya, a second-year student who was present at the venue.
“The RSS-backed ABVP stands against secular ideas of a free society and is engaged in spreading a Hindu ideology that students are against,” she said.
Reacting to some people criticising the students for not allowing the ABVP to have their say, Shreya said: “We listen to them every time but we do not want to hear them out any more.”
‘A sort of tradition’
Other students said that heckling the ABVP and the NSUI, the two dominant parties in the DUSU elections, had become a bit of a tradition in the college.
“It started in 2017 after the violence that took place at Ramjas College,” said a third-year student of B.A. Political Science, who wished to remain anonymous. At the time, students had raised questions regarding ABVP’s alleged involvement in the incident.
Similarly, last year, when the NSUI came to the college to present its manifesto, their candidates were also heckled, students said.
Video footage from that event also showed members of the Left group AISA being received with slogans of “go back AISA”, albeit in a relatively smaller capacity.
Sign of intolerance: ABVP
Responding to the incident, ABVP State secretary, Sidharth Yadav said: “The truth of Left organisations come to light when they try to curb differing voices and show their resistance towards other ideologies. The ABVP believes in debate and dissent and such shallow act by a handful of commies in Miranda House is nothing but a reflection of their intolerance. We will receive huge votes from Miranda House.”