Condemn the intimidation of Talha Mannan by the UP Police at the behest of fascist Hindu Raksha Dal goons!
The fascist conspiracy to suppress dissent and silence pro-Palestine voices was at play again during the recent protests against fee hikes at Aligarh Muslim University. Talha Mannan, an AMU alumnus, student activist and PhD scholar at Maulana Azad National University (MANUU) Hyderabad, expressed solidarity with the protesting students and addressed the gathering. Mannan along with 9-10 other students were booked by UP police for wearing kefiyyehs and raising slogans in solidarity with Palestine, a nation facing genocide & famine under Apartheid Israel’s settler colonial occupation for decades, where more than 60,000 people have been killed and lakhs more injured and missing due to Israel’s genocidal attack for the past two years.
After an atrocious fee hike of 30-40% at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in Uttar Pradesh, students launched protests at the Baab-e-Syed gate, and demanded the elections of Students’ Union to be held, withdrawal of detentions, and reinstatement of suspended students. The unity and resolve of the students resulted in the rollback of fee hike, but the fascists have found another way to attack our democratic rights and suppress dissent through this condemnable action against Mannan and others.
The issue of Palestine concerns everyone who calls themselves human today, and the global solidarity movement is testament to the fact. The issue of Palestine raises the question of exploitation and injustice around the world, and we are seeing how the perpetrators of this injustice, the ruling classes and their governments, are reacting to the movements in solidarity with Palestine.
When Mannan raised the slogan for Palestine, the fascist goons of Hindu Raksha Dal felt threatened once more. The fascist UP Police filed an FIR without any investigation, targeting Mannan for his identity and his stance against the fee hike and the genocide in Palestine. The complaint laughably claims that Mannan’s address could disrupt social harmony and disturb peace and order.
Irony died a thousand deaths as this is coming from the same Hindu Raksha Dal whose member Lalit Sharma announced that they would target Kashmiri Muslims in Uttarakhand, the same fascist organisation that attacked slum-dwellers in Ghaziabad calling them Bangladeshis after which their chief Pinky Chaudhary was arrested, the same extremist outfit who claimed responsibility for violent assault in JNU in August 2020, the same right wing group that attacked truck drivers on highways on the suspicion of carrying meat.
Fascists are attacking us from all quarters today. Through the governments and administrative offices, they are attacking our right to accessible education. Through their lumpen footsoldiers they are creating communal havoc on the streets. Through their infiltration of the police, judiciary and other arms of the state they are snatching our democratic rights one by one. It is now more than ever that our unity must resist the current order of things and work for a better society that is rid of their venomous, oppressive clutches.
Disha Students Organisation stands in solidarity with Talha Mannan and other students and their democratic right to raise their voice in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We demand that the charges against them be dropped immediately. We appeal to the students and youth of this country to resist every such attack on our rights and join the movements that stand in solidarity with the Palestinian fight for liberation, and take inspiration from the undying spirit of the Palestinians to fight for our rights in the face of injustice as well.
