The Delhi University Students Union elections are going to be held on September 9. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has dominated the elections for the past two years, winning all four posts in the central panel. National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress is hoping to make a comeback and the All India Students Association (AISA), a reckoning force in the politics of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is trying to gain an entry in DUSU as well.
Amit Tanwar, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s presidential candidate is pursuing an MA in Hindi from PGDAV college and has been a volunteer with the organisation for the past five years. In a short interview, this is what he had to say about the party’s politics, goals and ambitions.
If you are elected as President of DUSU, what will you aim to achieve in a year?
Irrespective of whether I become the President or not, we’ll definitely fulfil whatever is there in our manifesto. Whether it be on the issue of women or hostels. We are only focused on our work, irrespective of us holding any posts. We are known because of our work. I have been a karyakarta of ABVP for the past 5 years. We are not only bothered by elections, our main focus is to work.
Why should people vote for you and your party?
Students know which organisation (ABVP) works for 24 hours. Whether it’s about admissions or the hassles in procuring admit cards. Karyakartas of ABVP are present in colleges and also in different parts of the country.Our party stays within the student community 365 days a year, works at the ground level. Other organisations such as NSUI come during the elections and go away once it is over. That’s why I want to tell everyone to vote for ABVP for all the four posts and make us win for the third consecutive year.They should vote for me as I am a karyakarta of the Vidyarthi Parishad. We will fulfil whatever is written in our manifesto. We’ll take care of all the concerns of the students.
ABVP had protested against the screening of the film Muzaffarnagar Baaki Hai in Kirori Mal College last year, after which it wasn’t shown. If someone wants to screen it this year somewhere in Delhi University, will you protest?
Well, as far as the movie is concerned, you know how much of it is true or false. We wouldn’t want the youth of our nation to be ruined. We will strongly protest against it silently, without engaging in violence. If something is for the benefit of students we won’t do anything, but if something is against the interest of students, we’ll come and then we’ll see what can be done.
Even if they show something you find ‘offensive’, don’t you think they should have the right to do so?
They have full right to talk about what they want, but if they talk about Hindutva or the country, if they say anything wrong about the nation, we will not listen. If they abuse us, we’ll listen, if they beat us we’ll tolerate. But if they abuse Bharat Mata, we will not tolerate.
There are representatives from the Gujjar, Jat and Yadav communities, but there are no Dalit candidates for any of the top four posts from ABVP this year? Why is that?
We only talk about good of the nation, we have nothing to do with casteism. If you look at the history of the Jat, Yadav or Gujjar karyakartas in ABVP for the past 5-6 years, they’ve all been equal. We have food while sitting on the floor. We stay together. We have nothing to do with casteism, but we can’t comment on the way you guys in the media are running it. There is no casteism. As far as Dalits are concerned, we have so many Dalit karyakartas.