The Students’ Federation of India (SFI), a Left-affiliated student organization, has criticized the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for allegedly marching at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on September 28 without securing prior permission from the university administration.
SFI JNU secretary Parvathy stated, “When progressive organizations like ours have to organize any event, we are required to take permission. But the RSS and the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) are given a free hand.”
The event has triggered backlash, particularly due to video footage that captured uniformed RSS volunteers marching and exercising on campus. Critics voiced concerns about ideological encroachment, the propagation of hatred, and a troubling departure from the democratic values traditionally upheld by the university. The SFI remarked, “Allowing the RSS into academic spaces is an assault on the Constitution, culture, and collective memory. Education belongs to the people, not to the RSS.”
Similar marches have reportedly taken place at the University of Rajasthan and other educational institutions across the country.
In response, a member of the ABVP claimed that the march is routinely conducted in a JNU park, categorized as a “residential area,” and does not necessitate prior permission.
During a protest against the ABVP’s Ravan Dahan event, where effigies of former JNU students and anti-CAA activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam were burned, Gopika, a Secretariat Member of SFI JNU, criticized the RSS. “While the RSS-ABVP is out there distributing certificates of nationalism, one must ask what role the RSS played in the country’s freedom struggle. From plea petitions to open collaborations with the British police, the history of the RSS, no matter how much they try to rewrite it, is one of compromise and spinelessness in the face of colonialism.”
This ongoing conflict reflects broader tensions within Indian educational spaces regarding ideological representation and the participation of political organizations.
Tags: SFI, RSS, JNU, march, permission
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