THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Parading the student force against what it terms ‘Marxist violence’, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) will organise a national campaign starting with a rally in Thiruvananthapuram on November 11. Over one lakh students will participate in the event. “Raising the slogan ‘Kerala is pride, Marxism is terror and anti-national’, thousands of ABVP workers from across the nation will come to Thiruvananthapuram to attend the rally,” ABVP national secretary O Nidheesh told the media.
He said SFI was denying freedom to other student organisations in 64 campuses in the state. It is constantly fighting with the organisations in 50 campuses. “Since the Pinarayi Government came into power, the police have also been behaving like partisans by framing charges against ABVP workers in case they complain against SFI or CPM leaders,” he said. “In the past, the Communist party has always taken an anti-national stand and the CPM recently received a present from China.”
Coming down heavily on the SFI and other Left student organisations for opposing the national education policy, he said those organisations have always opposed the introduction of Yoga, Sanskrit and Ayurveda in the curriculum.
The ABVP leader said the recent adverse comment from the Kerala High Court against campus politics was mainly prompted by the violence unleashed by the SFI. “It was unfortunate the High Court misunderstood student politics,” Nidheesh said. “The court has taken the SFI’s violent methods as campus politics. There have been several instances where this violence has claimed the lives of students. The ABVP was the main victim of the violence.”
He also said banishing students politics will pave the way for the commercialisation of education. The ABVP will strongly take up the issue at the national level and opt for legal measures to ensure the freedom for campus politics is protected.
“The SFI’s high-handedness has caused severe damage to the image of student organisations,” he said. “The organisation setting up a funeral pyre for Government Victoria College principal T N Sarasu, burning Maharaja’s College principal’s chair and manhandling former diplomat T P Sreenivasan have caused the misunderstanding about student organisations and campus politics.”
Ahead of the ABVP rally, public meetings and marches will be held in all district centres across the country against Marxist violence on October 31. In Kerala, on the same day, a flag day will be held. Conventions will be held at 150 city centres. ABVP state secretary P Syamraj also addressed the media.