By Artika Raj:
“Usko uncomfortable feel ho raha tha”
What do you think the person who was feeling ‘uncomfortable’ did next? Removed himself from whatever was causing him this discomfort? Settled down and let it pass? Or started a scene that has left many of us ‘uncomfortable’?
Bingo.
In this short video get a glimpse of the future dissent has in this country. It’s quite something to see ABVP karyakarta – Nikhil Yadav of Law Faculty, DU – narrate the completely logical reasoning (in his head, of course) behind the mayhem, the party and its workers caused, when they disrupted the screening of Nakul Singh Sawhney’s documentary ‘Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai’ at Kirori Mal college earlier this month. For Nikhil, the “halka phulka aggression (minor/little bit of aggression)” that almost ended up in a professor of Kirori Mal getting slapped by the unruly mob that stormed the venue, is no biggie. Fellow ABVP party worker Dhananjay Arya pitches in with how his sentiments were ‘hurt’ by the allegedly ‘anti-hindu’ stance of the documentary.
However, Abhishek Jha , a student who has seen and interviewed the director about the film says it “is a diligent and thought provoking examination of the complex web of machinations that spun the Muzaffarnagar riots of August-September 2013, where even in official reports death tolls challenge the veracity of the woven stories.”
But such an understanding would come only if one had watched the film. ABVP and its members instead just decided to shut down the whole thing. Forget freedom of speech and expression and others in the room who wanted to watch, they didn’t think it was okay for the film screening to continue.
You know what makes me ‘uncomfortable’? The thought that expressing dissent may land me a blow to my head. But you’re not likely to see me take up an axe and go on rampage against anyone anytime soon.
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