The mural was created in solidarity with the Palestinian cause on the walls of the University of Hyderabad
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Several student bodies have decried the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarti Parishad (ABVP) for vandalising a mural of the Palestinian flag at the University of Hyderabad on Thursday.
The mural was created in solidarity with the Palestinian cause on the walls of the university near the School of Social Sciences.
The incident took place during the right-wing student outfit’s Independence Day rally at the university campus. ABVP members raised slogans alleging a lack of patriotism towards India among the citizens who sympathise with the Palestinian cause, media reports reaching here said on Saturday.
Other student organisations condemned the act, alleging the lack of ‘real Indian spirit’ in the ABVP cadre. The students’ union of the university condemned the incident. It said the vandalism highlights their (ABVP’s) ignorance of, and selective blindness toward the shared anti-imperialist history between India and Palestine.
“This vandalism is not just an attack on a symbol; it is an attack on freedom of expression within our campus and the very idea of campus democracy,” the union added in its statement.
Activists of the Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) at the university, who had made the mural, reacted to the incident, calling it a blatant display of cowardice and ignorance. They questioned the pathetic mindset of the ABVP workers of destroying the symbol of another struggle for freedom and independence, thinking it elevates Indian nationalism.
“The red they (ABVP) painted over the flag is as tainted as the blood Israel spills on Palestinian soil,” said the SIO in a statement.
Another student organisation on the campus, Muslim Students Federation (MSF), while condemning the act, quoted former prime minister and BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “We do not accept that an aggressor should benefit from invasion. Therefore, the principles that apply to us must also apply to others,” stated MSF quoting Vajpayee.
“Unfortunately, expecting sanity from ABVP, a collective of mindless thuggery, is a mistake. However, one cannot help but sympathise with their ignorant tendency to be violent at anything related to Muslims,” read an MSF statement.
Students Federation of India (SFI) also condemned the act by reiterating its solidarity with the Palestinian people who are resisting the settler colonisation from Israel.
“The ABVP with its internalised Islamophobia is unable to see the anti-colonial nature of the struggle and is among the first to stand with the Israeli settlers in the oppression of the people of Palestine,” stated the SFI.
