ABVP holds Ravan Dahan of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam at JNU, praises Godse

The ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, on Thursday held a Ravan Dahan at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where it portrayed student leaders and anti-CAA activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam as Ravan, with slogans raised praising Godse and UP CM’s bulldozer justice, while seeking death to both activists, drawing protest from JNUSU, which called it a deliberate attempt to exploit religion and spread Islamophobia.

The incident escalated tensions on campus, as JNUSU organised a counter-demonstration in the form of a human chain despite rain-related disruptions, asserting that the symbolic burning of the activists was a political act aimed at communal polarisation.

Reports indicated that ABVP supporters allegedly responded to the protest with abuse, provocative chants, and efforts to incite violence, which heightened the hostility between the two groups.

The students’ union criticised the Ravan Dahan as a public trial conducted on the streets against Khalid and Imam, who have remained imprisoned for over five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi violence, despite their bail being repeatedly denied by courts.

The protestors argued that instead of targeting individuals imprisoned without bail, the ABVP could have highlighted figures such as Nathuram Godse, Gandhi’s assassin, or controversial political leaders accused of instigating riots and communal hatred, but the selective symbolism revealed the political nature of the act.

According to JNUSU, while their protest was conducted peacefully at Sabarmati Tea Point, ABVP members attempted to provoke unrest by waving slippers and raising slogans in the midst of Durga idol immersion festivities, which they said disrupted the otherwise peaceful celebrations observed by student groups across campus for several days.

The union further alleged that once outnumbered, ABVP members left the scene but later spread misinformation claiming that JNUSU’s protest was against Durga Puja, misrepresenting the demonstration to communalise the issue.

Students reported that stones were pelted and sandals waved during the confrontation, and attempts were made to intimidate protestors, though the situation eventually de-escalated after sustained resistance, according to Maktoob Media.

JNUSU accused the ABVP of seeking to manufacture communal divides by exploiting religious rituals and historical symbolism, recalling how in 1945 the RSS’s magazine Agrani had depicted Gandhi, Nehru, and Maulana Azad as Ravana while positioning leaders such as Savarkar and Syama Prasad Mukherjee as Rama, with Godse himself serving on the editorial board.

JNUSU said the targeting of Khalid and Imam reflected a broader pattern of political repression, as several anti-CAA activists continue to languish in jail without bail, including Gulfisha Fatima and Meeran Haider, who, along with others, have spent more than 2,000 days in detention.