Flowers and nationalism in JNU rally

It was a protest of flowers and songs and a sea of placards with as many different slogans. Thursday afternoon, some ten thousand people turned out for a rally in the heart of Delhi, in solidarity with the students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University, to protest the police crackdown and the arrest on charges of sedition of the student union president Kanhaiya Kumar."JNU is not a university, it is a dream," thundered Sucheta De, a student leader from JNU, as thousands gathered handing out roses to people, their counter to the violence the campus has seen.

The JNU student body, in classic JNU style, arrived late for their own protest, entering around 4pm in 22 buses. Even before they reached, some 2000 had already gathered in support. Students from Delhi University, IGNOU, Ashoka University, Delhi's intelligentsia, academics, activists from Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, trade unionists, members from various left parties and ex-students of DU and JNU were all present.The students and supporters came prepared. T-shirts in support of kanhaiya were being distributed freely, white shirts bearing the legend "Mera yaar Kanhaiya" (My friend Kanhaiya).

A small economy bloomed by the roadside as children scampered around selling flowers to the protestors. Many were bought as roses seemed to be the leitmotif of the protest, it's marker of identity.The placards of the protest showed how the protesters were reclaiming the word 'nationalist' as charges of being anti national and anti India have been thrown freely at the JNU student body. The left's counter has been that they are more nationalist than the hindutva forces and, evoking Ambedkar's name, they declared that they upheld the Constitution better.

There were groups of women from outer Delhi villages, all out in support of the movement. Old and middle-aged women from mangolpuri and azadpur, all members of various mahila samitis of left bodies, rallied by their community leaders. One such leader, Shakuntala from Azadpur, said that they were marching because they couldn't stand how the abusive language by members of BJP. She said that people like Kanhaiya had helped them when their jhuggis were demolished and their children needed admission in schools.

The enthusiasm, at the march and on campus, was at its peak, more than a week into the protest, to fight for the release of their student leader Abandoning classes, both teacher and students gathered outside the administrative block reach the protest site. Appeals from the Vice-Chancellor to call off the protest failed to make any impact on the students. The university in a written appeal to the protesting students had said, "While we appreciate your right to protest, we are apprehensive of your safety outside the campus."The V-C's appeal only led to swelling of the number of students, more placards and more slogans. "The JNU students have been attacked twice outside the campus. We can ensure their safety on campus, but not outside.

We have appealed them to call off their protest," said JNU Registrar Professor Bupinder Zutshi. 

However, mobilizing large number of students and delay in the arrival of the buses that were to ply these students from the university to the protest venue delayed the protest by about two hours.While the protest was called by the left wing parties, the members of the NSUI made the arrangement of these buses to ferry the students.

"It is not the protest of any one party, but the entire university. We are all one," said a senior NSUI functionary.Ten bus es were arranged for the protests, some buses even making more than one sortie. "Some buses have made two rounds. A total of 16 buses packed with students have moved out from the campus gate," informed a police officer, managing the crowd, traffic and movement of the buses outside the university gates.Waiting for the bus outside the university gate, with placards in their hands and protest anthem on their lips, the students queued on both sides of the road, ensuring that traffic movement saw minimum disruption.