Anand Patwardhan: Documentary filmmaker speaks on ABVP

Mumbai: Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan spoke about the history of the ABVP’s violence and offered a primer on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s student wing.

Students from the “Students’ Federation of India and All Indian Students’ Association” protested outside Dadar Station in Mumbai against the actions of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidya Parishad at Delhi’s Ramjas College.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-w3EilXZU

Patwardhan began his speech with mentioning ABVP’s origin. “The ABVP was born in the aftermath of Gandhi’s assassination”

“There was a ban on the RSS and to circumvent it, the organisation’s members formed other organisations, one of which was ABVP. And the work that we see today has been going on since then,” he said.

The documentary filmmaker, who has made Ram Ke Naam, about the events surrounding the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and Jai Bhim Comrade, about the activist group Kabir Kala Manch, spoke about the harassment of Gurmehar Kaur after she protested against the group at FTII, Pune in 2013 when a group of ABVP members attacked students for not saying “Jai, Narendra Modi”.

He made sure to point out the differences between the ABVP of the past and the ABVP of today. “In those days, they would not carry out their activities openly,” Patwardhan said.

“That was because people knew that the organisation was involved with Gandhi’s killing. But that has changed since they have come to power.”