Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
RSS-affiliated student organisation ABVP has sought the Centre’s intervention for the permanent cancellation of a proposed screening of a documentary on jailed activist Umar Khalid at the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru. It has also asked the Centre to order a high-level inquiry into the university administration over the proposed event.
In a statement issued on Monday, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Bengaluru said it had sent representations to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, seeking their intervention.
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The documentary, ‘Prisoner No 626710 is Present’, directed by Lalit Vachani, was recently postponed by the organisers, who cited security and administrative reasons.
ABVP alleged that the postponement was a “stalling tactic” to allow public outrage to subside.
“ABVP maintains that educational institutions of national repute cannot serve as platforms for political propaganda centered around an individual linked to anti-national slogans during the 2016 JNU controversy, Afzal Guru commemorations, and provocative mobilization during the CAA-NRC protests and 2020 Delhi riots,” it said.
The student body urged the Centre to direct the university management to permanently revoke all permissions for the documentary to be filmed, screened or promoted on campus under any pretext.
It also sought a comprehensive inquiry into the university administration and the organising committee over the granting of permission for the event, alleging that formal complaints by student bodies had been ignored.
ABVP further called for strict guidelines to ensure that infrastructure in central and national universities funded by public resources was not used for what it termed “anti-national narratives” under the guise of academic freedom.
It said open discussion and academic freedom were constitutional rights, but claimed that freedom of expression could not be prioritised over national security, sovereignty and institutional integrity.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
