Ambedkar Jayanti Feud: DU Law Students’ Organization Lock Horns Over Flag Dispute

For over a week, Delhi University’s (DU) Faculty of Law students have been experiencing a dispute over an alleged disrespect towards the Ambedkarite flag by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated students’ organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Earlier this week, the left-wing and Ambedkarite students of DU participated in the Ambedkar March at the campus where they denounced the ABVP’s alleged disrespect of the Ambedkarite blue flag. 

A left students’ organisation—the All-India Students’ Association (AISA)—accused Priyam Sharma, an ABVP activist of the Faculty of Law and its LC-2 secretary of replacing an Ambedkarite blue flag hoisted by them with a saffron flag with “Jai Shri Ram” inscribed on it.

While Ambedkar Jayanti is celebrated on Apr 14, this year, the AISA activists had decorated the college with blue banners earlier due to the date falling on a weekend. They allege that one of the flags was disrespected by Sharma.

CCTV recording captured

AISA activists in the law faculty have furnished a CCTV recording allegedly showing Sharma throwing the blue flag to the ground and replacing it with a saffron banner. Sharma, on the other hand, has denied the allegations.

Manik Gupta, a third-year student of DU’s law faculty, claimed that they found a flag had gone missing, the students approached the administration to procure CCTV footage to find out how it went missing. 

“We saw students, being led by ABVP member and LC-2 union secretary Priyank Sharma removing the blue flag, throwing it on the ground, and replacing it with a saffron flag”, Gupta told The Free Press Journal (FPJ).

“I was roaming on the campus along with fellow students that day when I saw ‘Jai Shri Ram’ flags dumped on the ground”, said Sharma. He said that he picked up the flags, saluted them, and told fellow students that it was not appropriate to throw a flag away.

“AISA students have cropped the CCTV footage and isolated the entire incident in a way that fits their narrative”, Sharma said, adding that ABVP celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti the next day. 

Sharma alleged that AISA members aim to stir up controversy, amplify it on social media, and then highlight and share it via tweets. 

The ABVP state leadership has also blamed AISA. “AISA students had claimed that their celebration of Ambedkar Jayanti was over, and didn’t object when we took down the blue flag”, Harsh Attri, ABVP’s Delhi state secretary,  told the FPJ. 

ABVP members, including Sharma, celebrated Ambedkar Jayanti on Apr 14, Attri said, adding that the RSS-affiliated students’ body celebrates Constitution Day each year, and has immense respect for Ambedkar's ideas, teachings and contributions.

However, Attri said that Sharma made a mistake by removing the blue flag, adding that the ABVP condemns the throwing away of the blue flag which represents Dalit consciousness and the ideals of equality, justice and empowerment.

However, the left students still stand their ground. Anjali, AISA’s DU secretary, who goes by her forename only, alleged that the ABVP’s narrative that there was a saffron flag in the spot of the blue flag holds no truth. 

“If that is what they are claiming, where is the CCTV evidence of it? We have provided our evidence. Where is their evidence?”, Anjali asked. 

“The last decade of the BJP’s rule has been nothing short of an undeclared emergency. Their onslaught on the Indian Constitution and democracy is evident. A student body like ABVP, which is a student wing of the RSS, has no place educating us on Ambedkar’s vision”, she told the FPJ.

Shambhavi Chaudhary, a third-year student of Indraprastha College for Women, DU, and an AISA member, alleged that after the Ram Mandir inauguration on Jan 22, the DU campus has been filled with saffron flags. She claimed that AISA’s law faculty members submitted a memorandum to the DU’s Proctor Rajni Abbi earlier, and had the flags removed because they felt like religion was being imposed on them, but within a few days, the flags resurfaced.

“What Priyam Sharma tried to do by getting the blue flag removed when we were celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti reflects what ABVP has been doing across DU — forcing their ideas on us by occupying and hijacking our space”, said Chaudhary. 

“As long as nobody talks about Ambedkar, or speaks out against Hindutva and Manusmriti, they are fine. When somebody brings in a figure like Ambedkar, whose beliefs go against their ideology, they will either resort to forms of violence — which Priyam Sharma did by getting the blue flag pulled down and disrupting our celebration — or by appropriating Dr Ambedkar as and when it suits them”, she added.  

Countering the AISA’s narrative, Ashish Singh, ABVP Delhi state joint secretary, claimed that the ABVP celebrates Ambedkar Jayanti each year, hosts discussions on Dr Ambedkar, and frequently visits slums with the Basti Ki Paathshala Foundation to provide study materials to deprived students. "We consider Dr BR Ambedkar to be an idol of our nation”, he said. “How can we be anti-Ambedkar?” Singh said, adding that the AISA has been singling out and targeting the ABVP citing Sharma’s actions, who holds no official post in the organisation.

“Personally, I don’t think the flag should have been thrown away,” Singh commented on Sharma’s alleged action.

According to Saavy Gupta, another AISA member of the law faculty, the students wrote a letter to Abbi demanding immediate suspension of Sharma and action against ABVP members who allegedly hurt the feelings of Ambedkar’s followers; they also demanded an official apology from ABVP and a statue of Ambedkar installed inside the law faculty premises. 

She said that students will be approaching the police and filing a case under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

“I haven’t seen the footage myself, but have sought a report from the Dean of Faculty of Law, Anju Vali Tikoo”, Abbi told FPJ. When asked about her response to the demands made by DU students, she said: “I have no authority to rusticate Priyam Sharma. I’ll be forwarding their demands to the Vice Chancellor of DU, Yogesh Singh”.

Until the article went to press, the FPJ didn't receive any response from Tikoo, the dean of law faculty, and other faculty members on the questions related to the tussle between these two groups of students.