New Delhi: On February 13, Bhubaneswar police arrested two activists with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in connection with disrupting a symposium on the Indian constitution and injuring two people at the Utkal University campus in Bhubaneswar in Odisha a day earlier, officials told The Wire. Claiming that a resource person had made ‘anti-national’ comments during a talk, some ABVP activists had attacked two persons during the symposium at Utkal University on February 12. A resource person and an organiser were injured and the Bhubaneswar police registered two cases in connection with the incident.Symposium on Indian constitutionOn the morning of February 12, Surajit Mazumdar, a professor in economics at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, was speaking about the Indian constitution and quoting B.R. Ambedkar in this regard at the symposium, organised by the Citizens’ Forum at the P.G. Council Hall in Utkal University.The first part of the symposium – beginning with Mazumdar’s talk – pertained to constitutional challenges, and the second was to focus on the National Education Policy, said Pradipta Nayak, convenor of the Citizens’ Forum. The Citizens’ Forum is a collective of intellectuals, retired bureaucrats and “people who are secular and followers of democracy”, according to Nayak, and the Forum conducts regular symposiums on various topics including secularism.It was a “peaceful gathering”, and students were taking notes on Mazumdar’s presentation, until two individuals took the name of the RSS and BJP and raised questions about Mazumdar’s talk, said Nayak.Though they were asked to wait till the end of the talk to ask questions, the ABVP activists persisted and demanded that the meeting be called off immediately, said Nayak. ABVP is affiliated to the RSS.According to Mazumdar, the members of the ABVP came forward and asked the audience to disperse. Arguments between the ABVP members and the organisers soon escalated to bodily blows, according to him.Tension erupts during a workshop on Constitutional rights at Utkal University. Involvement of AVBP alleged. Details awaited.@XpressOdisha @NewIndianXpress @Siba_TNIE @santwana99 pic.twitter.com/qJoRfziFkL— Diana Sahu (@DianaSahu_TNIE) February 12, 2023Not “anti-national”“They beat me mercilessly,” said Nayak. His right shoulder is still in constant pain, as is his left eye and the little finger on his right hand that is possibly fractured, said Nayak. Surendra Jena, a teacher in Surajmal Saha Mahavidyalaya, Puri, who was also scheduled to talk at the symposium, sustained injuries in the attack too.There were around 10-15 ABVP activists who demanded that the meeting be called off, alleged Nayak. The activists also verbally abused the gathering using “unparliamentary” language and tore down the symposium banner.“The police had to rescue us [Nayak and Jena] from their clutches,” Nayak told The Wire. Both Nayak and members of the ABVP have filed police complaints.Members of the ABVP alleged that Mazumdar had made “anti-national comments” in his talk, and that “upper caste people were at the helm of governance”, The Hindu reported. However, Mazumdar told The Wire that he never mentioned the word “upper caste” in his speech, and neither was there anything that could be considered “anti-national” or “unconstitutional”.“All I did was present different provisions in the Indian constitution and the significant amendments made to it,” said Mazumdar. Specifically, he spoke about what the Directive Principles of State Policy say about the distribution of wealth and income in India and an amendment made to the directives in 1978 which explicitly states that the state shall strive to reduce inequality in income, he said.“There was nothing unconstitutional in what I said. I quoted only from the constitution, and from B.R. Ambedkar.”“It was clearly a planned attempt to disturb the meeting,” said Mazumdar, calling the attack a “premeditated” one. Mazumdar spoke about the Indian constitution and Ambedkar’s views on the document in the context of welfarism, said Nayak. “He talked about an economic issue, and did not say anything about the BJP, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi or anyone.”This is the first time that such an incident has occurred during any of the talks or symposia that the Citizens’ Forum has conducted, Nayak added.Two arrestedOn February 12, inspector-in-charge Manoj Kumar Satpathy told The Hindu that two persons have been identified and will be arrested.An official with the Bhubaneswar police confirmed to The Wire on February 13 that two ABVP activists have been arrested in connection with the case. They will soon be presented in court, the official added.Nayak said despite the arrests, the actions of the ABVP members are “not acceptable in a democracy”.“How dare they do this in a democracy,” Nayak said. “Where are our democratic values? What topic we talk about is our right, a right given by the constitution,” he said.
