The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has opposed the participation of human rights activist Binayak Sen in a cultural festival called ‘Celebrating right to dissent' to be held here on Sunday.
In a letter to the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), the venue of the festival, the ABVP threatened to disrupt the event, if the Institute did not withdraw permission. The festival is being organised by advocacy group Lokayat and the Binayak Sen Muktata Samiti.
Citing security reasons, the organisers have since changed the venue.
The letter, a copy of which is with The Hindu , calls Dr. Sen a ‘traitor' and an ‘active volunteer in the naxalite movement.' “We request you to deny permission to Dr. Sen from engaging with the youth, thus stopping him from spreading his ideas that are detrimental to the nation on an educational platform,” the letter states.
“If you fail to do so [deny permission], we will be left with no choice but to severely oppose the event and Dr. Sen,” it says.
“Naxalism is a threat to the internal security of the nation. Recent events have proved that this ideology is spreading to urban areas in Maharashtra as well,” the letter, signed by ABVP Pune president Prashant Sathe, says.
