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Why were ABVP members carrying photos of Kerala killings during their protest at Delhi University?

Not just the killings in Kerala, ABVP members also said that they will not tolerate if people spoke about 'Free Kashmir'

The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday held a protest march in huge numbers seeking a ban on leftist groups in campuses. The issues that were raised at the protest march were not confined to the much-talked about violence in Ramjas college in Delhi. The striking thing during the protests was that the ABVP workers were seen carrying posters of Rashtriya Swayam Sangh (RSS) workers who were killed in Kerala. The reason for the posters of deaths in Kerala being displayed at a rally in Delhi University could be to show solidarity with their brothers in the southern part of the country.

Not just the killings in Kerala, students also said that they will not tolerate if people spoke about ‘Free Kashmir’. Students also urged the Central government to act against such people who are “acting against the interests of the country.”

It is not for the first time that the issue of the killing of “innocent” RSS workers was brought up by the ABVP. In the past too, they have often held several protests including one Amritsar over the death of RSS workers in Kerala. RSS leaders have been alleging the role of CPI (M) behind the killing of over 13 workers have in a year in Kerala.

Not just by ABVP, these protests against the killings have been taking place by many groups in several places across the country.

Two Civil Society groups in Meghalaya sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention to stop attacks on RSS and BJP workers in Kerala. The two groups — Meghalaya Citizens Forum for Human Rights (MCFHR) and Meghalaya Conscious Citizen Forum (MCCF) — had also staged a protest in Shillong on Wednesday against the attacks.

RSS-backed Forum against communist Terror (FACT) also protested across Maharashtra on Tuesday against the alleged political killings. A senior RSS leader said, “Leftist political party workers have killed more than 250 RSS men and seriously injured more than 650 in Kerala since 1996. The State government has not only turned a blind eye towards the killing but also has promoted the hatred against the RSS.