Strict action demanded against ABVP activists for allegedly filming girl students changing costumes in a government college of Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh
NEW DELHI – The Congress has vehemently demanded that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) be banned from educational institutions for promoting a divisive and toxic ideology. It has also demanded strict action against the ABVP activists for allegedly filming girl students changing costumes in a government college of Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Friday, the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) president Alka Lamba and National Students Union of India (NSUI) president Varun Choudhary stated that the accused ABVP activists were shamefully being defended by BJP leaders.
Ms Lamba asserted that they will not allow the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh to let these ABVP activists go scot-free. They cannot be allowed to play with the dignity and honour of the girls, she added. She also referred to the reported sexual assault on a girl student in the South Asian University in Delhi and sought accountability from Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
NSUI chief Choudhary demanded that RSS and ABVP must be banned in educational institutions as they were spreading divisive ideology there. He also demanded that Deepika Jha, an ABVP leader and DUSU joint secretary. be rusticated for slapping a professor of one of the affiliated colleges of Delhi University.
Referring to the RSS activities, he cited an incident in Kerala where an IT professional committed suicide after revealing how he had been sexually assaulted and exploited for several years in the RSS shakhas and training camps.
The NSUI president alleged that his group’s activists were being victimised, intimidated and persecuted in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh simply for opposing the divisive ideology of the RSS in educational institutions. Both leaders demanded that the RSS be banned from operating or influencing activities on university and school campuses across India.
Alka Lamba referred to the “shameful” incident in the Madhya Pradesh college where four students associated with ABVP allegedly filmed female students changing clothes during a cultural programme. The ABVP, she said, is “nurtured by the BJP and the RSS,” and the case exposes the “real character” of those who raise slogans like Beti Bachao but “turn it into Beti Filmao.”
According to Lamba, CCTV footage clearly showed the four accused — Umesh Joshi, Ajay Gaur, Himanshu Bairagi and another student who is absconding — recording the girls. The principal, she said, immediately verified the footage and informed police. Lamba accused the BJP and ABVP of trying to shield the accused and even writing letters seeking a “clean chit.” “If the accused belonged to any other organisation, they would have been behind bars. But because they are from the ABVP, the government machinery is protecting them,” she said.
Lamba also raised concern over the case in South Asian University where a foreign student was allegedly raped. “The government must explain what image of India are we presenting to the world when even international students are unsafe here,” she said, urging the Union home minister and Delhi’s leadership to act immediately.
NSUI President Choudhary echoed these concerns, saying that sexual harassment complaints were repeatedly surfacing from universities and colleges across the country. He cited the recent video of DUSU joint secretary Deepika Jha allegedly slapping a professor at Ambedkar College, and demanded her immediate rustication. “Even after 24 hours, there has been no action. Is this the kind of discipline and respect the RSS and ABVP are teaching their student leaders?” he asked.
Both leaders asserted that the NSUI will continue protests nationwide until the accused in these cases are punished and universities are freed from what they called “RSS-ABVP’s control and communal mindset.
Choudhary linked the incidents from Mandsaur, Delhi University, and Kerala to what he described as the toxic ideology of the RSS. “The RSS is polluting India’s educational spaces with intolerance, aggression, and moral corruption. Its influence must end,” he asserted.
Both leaders declared that NSUI and AIMC will launch nationwide protests demanding strict action against the accused students and a complete ban on RSS activities in educational institutions.
