From Sehwag, Hooda to MP, trollers taunt Kargil martyr’s daughter

24-year-old Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of a Kargil martyr, dared to oppose the ABVP on Facebook after the Ramjas Fiasco.

Gurmehar Kaur (Photo | Facebook)

NEW DELHI: A day after 24-year-old Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of a Kargil martyr, dared to oppose the ABVP on Facebook, a host of trolls menaced her with death and rape threats on Twitter, a Union minister alluded to her “polluted” mind and a ruling party MP drew comparisons of her with Dawood Ibrahim.

Two noted personalities, cricketer Virender Sehwag and actor Randeep Hooda weighed in with criticism of the student, calling her a pawn in a political game.

The troll attack left the girl in tears on national television and the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) swung into action. The nation’s Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, who is canvassing in UP for the elections, said he was monitoring the matter and has ordered the Delhi Police to act with caution and ensure the situation is under control.

Amid all this, support started pouring in for Gurmehar from all over the country, including from politicians, celebrities and activists while Delhi University’s North Campus turned into a fortress with an increased number of Delhi police female cops posted to keep peace on the capital’s restive campuses.

Gurmehar, a student of Ramjas College in Delhi, had started a campaign ‘I am not afraid of ABVP’, following the violence in her college last week. In her complaint to the DCW, the student said she has received rape threats on social media from members of the right-wing student party.

The student’s campaign against the ABVP drew a controversial reaction from BJP leaders with Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju wondering “who was polluting her mind” and Pratap Simha, the BJP MP from Mysuru, tweeting, “At least Dawood (Ibrahim) did not use the crutches of his father’s name to justify his anti-national stand.”

The tweet was a reference to Gurmehar’s campaign in which she said, “Pakistan did not kill my father. War killed him.”

Mocking her further, Simha posted a photograph showing Dawood with the message, “I didn’t kill people in 1993. Bombs killed them.”