Ramjas ruckus: 5 people who played crucial role in the freedom of expression debate

Delhi University's Ramjas College has been in the midst of a heated debate ever since the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) prevented the hosting of an event where Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid was invited.

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What followed the event was chaos and violence, with different groups jumping into the fray. The event became a site of discussion for freedom of expression and ideologies of various groups.

The incident, though about collective ideologies and their freedom of expression, had some key players who influenced it one way or the other.

Here's a list of five people who made their impact in the Ramjas-ABVP chaos:

1. Gurmehar Kaur: A 20-year-old Delhi University student, who posted images of herself holding placards saying that she was against ABVP, was mercilessly trolled by some celebrities and scolded like a schoolchild by some politicians. With her social media posts, the debate came into the hands of any and every social media user.

2. National executive member of ABVP and DUSU president Amit Tanwar: Tanwar organised the Tiranga March after the violence and clashes in Ramjas College on February 22. ABVP has been projecting an image of patriots and nationalists who are fighting against 'leftist outsiders.'

"Our Tiranga March was aimed at sending a message against the communist elements present on the campus. We want to tell government and DU authorities that if they cannot act, we will throw anti-nationals out," Tanwar said.

3. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju: The BJP leader commented on Kaur's social media campaign without looking at the whole video, which had been about peace between India and Pakistan. He had tweeted, "Who's polluting this young girl's mind? A strong Arm Force prevents a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded."

4. Shehla Rashid: A member of All India Students Association, Rashid was also supposed to be present at the Ramjas College seminar where Khalid was invited. She was also part of the protests and spoke to media about the violent attack on the students' group by the ABVP group. She has been vocal about denouncing the RSS student wings' violence on the campus.

5. Virender Sehwag: The trolling of Kaur was started by him and was later joined by actor Randeep Hooda and Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt. The battle of ideologies that was fought by students was fought by celebrities online with Javed Akhtar also joining in to denounce the sportsmen.