Statements Against the ‘Burn the Contemporary Ravans’ Event by the ABVP at JNU
02 October 2025 | JNUSU, Fraternity Movement, JNU & SFI-JNU
On the 2nd of October, 2025, ABVP conducted an event at Jawaharlal Nehru University to mark Vijayadashami, using the occasion to “Burn the Contemporary Ravans” labelling in its poster Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Afzal Guru alongside Terrorism, Separatism, Patriarchy, Naxalism and Maoism as ‘Contemporary Ravans’. Click here to view the poster (covered by IAFN’s Campus Notes page). Several statements were published condemning this event at JNU. These are as follows.
JNUSU
Foil the venomous attempt of ABVP to use religion for political propaganda
JNU rejects the politics of hate and Islamophobia!
On another blatant and dastardly display of Islamophobia, exploiting religious sentiments to harvest political benefits, the ABVP is organising a Ravan Dahan in which two former students of JNU – Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam – have been depicted as Ravan, which the ABVP plans to burn today.
Why Umar and Sharjeel?
Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have been incarcerated for the last five years and are still under trial. Their bail pleas have been rejected multiple times on flimsy grounds. Intellectuals, democratic activists, and jurists across the globe have raised concerns over the incarceration of political prisoners under BJP’s rule. Umar and Sharjeel are among the most prominent cases.
We want to ask a few simple questions to the RSS-BJP and their ilk:
How can they run a public trial of Sharjeel and Umar when their cases are still under trial?
The ABVP is conducting this Ravan Dahan on 2nd October, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. If the ABVP is so concerned about the nation, why have they not put Nathuram Godse’s face as Ravan in their poster? Do they not consider Godse a terrorist or a threat to the nation?
Why has the ABVP not depicted Baba Ram Rahim, a convicted serial sexual offender who is serving jail terms but conveniently gets parole every time there is an election in Haryana, so that he can garner votes for the BJP?
Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma were the main culprits of the North East Delhi riots of 2020. They have been openly spewing communal venom in public. Yet, to this day, neither has been arrested nor tried. Why have they not been depicted in the communally charged posters anonymously circulated by the ABVP?
The RSS and ABVP are known for their toxic history of using religious sentiments against their political opponents. In 1945, one of the RSS organs, Agrani, published a cartoon in which Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and other stalwarts of the Indian freedom movement were shown as Ravana, while Savarkar and Syama Prasad Mukherjee were depicted as attacking them with arrows as Rama. Shockingly, Nathuram Godse, the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi, sat on the editorial board of Agrani.
Friends, the RSS and ABVP are known for dividing society on communal lines. We request all students to isolate these forces and stand up against their politics of hate and disharmony.
Nitish – President
Manisha – Vice President
Munteha – General Secretary
JNUSU
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Fraternity Movement JNU
We, the students and members of Fraternity Movement JNU, strongly condemn the recent "Ravan Dahan" organized by ABVP on our campus. This act, far from being a cultural practice, was a disturbing public display of hatred and political vilification that has deeply wounded the spirit of JNU. The burning of effigies symbolizing leaders such as Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, alongside labels like "anti-national forces," "Urban Naxals," and "Separatists," marks a dangerous escalation of Hindutva hate politics. This was not just disrespectful; it was a direct assault on the principles of justice and human dignity upon which our university stands.
By publicly burning the effigies of individuals who are still awaiting legal verdicts, the organizers bypassed due process and encouraged a culture of moh justice. This act of prejudice effectively pronounced these individuals guilty in the court of public opinion long before any court of law has reached a decision….
Click here to read the complete statement
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SFI JNU
SFI categorically communal condemns instrumentalization the of of Dussehra. We reject the politicization of faith to demonize an entire community. We reject the appropriation of cultural rituals to serve the agenda supremacy and exclusion. Today, students of JNU stood united to voice their resistance against the RSS-BJP-ABVP's vitriolic agenda. We call upon all students to continue resisting this campaign of hate every day, to defend pluralism, and to ensure that festivals like Dussehra are never used as pretexts for violence, division, or fear. The struggle to defend democracy and secularism is absolute and non-negotiable….