A Former Member Writes to the ABVP, But This Time As A Father
THE CITIZEN BUREAU
Saturday, February 25,2017
NEW DELHI: A Delhi University student who was amongst the peaceful protestors attacked by ABVP cadres posted this letter from her father on Facebook. As the letter says, he was with the ABVP during his college days, and after this attack was furious enough to write to the organisation he was once part of. The un-edited letter is as follows:Dear ABVP,
Thank you, for telling me my daughter is right!
It's been over an year that she is doing activism.
She began it with a movement called Ocuupy UGC and told me after 6 months that she is a communist.
I was furious but I stayed calm,
She is closet to me yet we argue alot, maybe this is what we call generation gap,
She is like this but I had no idea she will be this much fierce, I taught her to be fierce but had no idea that she will be better than me as an activist.
I used to be an activist of ABVP in BHU, we used to protest, discuss but I don't know when this organisation became synonymous to hooliganism.
I had been stopping her since last one year, I was worried about people, I am somebody who used to attend RSS Shakhas with my brothers and neighbours and it was something shameful for me that my girl is a comrade.
I tried to convince her, scold her, argue with her.
I used to listen to her talking to her mother whenever they were going to protest about something.
One day she was arranging some papers, she call them "parcha" and I started scolding her.
One day she was detained and I was in Lucknow attending somebody's cremation, my relatives began discussion about her and how she spoke about it on Facebook.
I was angry, with her and with my relatives as well.
I used to get angry when she argued with relatives about politics,
I told her multiple times to leave the house in anger,
I used to argue with her friends when they visited my place,
But now I realised how wrong I was, how right my daughter is.
She came home recently telling her mother about what happened in Delhi University.
When I reached home, her mother told me to discuss this with her.
I was worried about her safety, a concern that is every parent's priority.
I began scolding her.
She screamed,"apke time mein politics alag hoti thi !" and slammed the door.
I felt I lost her in that particular minute, but when I heard her talking on call describing the whole incident, I realised that my daughter is right,
I was wrong but not anymore, I will support her,
Attacking teachers is something we never even thought about,
But you people have made University unsafe,
I know she will fight it out,
My baby have grown up to be a fierce woman.
Yours(not anymore)
A former cadre of ABVP BHU
