Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of a Kargil martyr, said she was threatened after her Facebook post on ABVP
Highlights
- Kargil martyr's daughter Gurmehar's post slamming ABVP went viral
- Ms Kaur has alleged she was threatened with rape after her post
- Minister Kiren Rijiju, Virender Sehwag tweeted on her earlier post
Gurmehar Kaur, the daughter of a Kargil martyr, fought back tears when she told NDTV that she was being
threatened with rape after her social media posts against the ABVP, the BJP-linked students' group accused of violence at Ramjas College last week.
The 20-year-old student had
posted a profile picture on Facebook holding up a placard saying, "I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP". Her post followed
clashes at the Ramjas College last week over Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid being invited to speak. The invite was cancelled after activists of the ABVP or Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad allegedly barged in and vandalised the college, alleging that it was anti-national to call Umar Khalid, who was accused of sedition last year.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju today added to the massive row over Ms Kaur's comments, including one in May, when she had posted a video message using placards urging peace between India and Pakistan; one of them said, "Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him."
Another lawmaker of the ruling BJP, Pratap Simha, compared Gurmehar to terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.
Congress leader Manish Tewari, in a sharp reaction to Mr Rijiju's post, said "The gentleman shouldn't be in parliament... it's unfortunate, this emanates from the top, they feel by insulting martyrs' families, they will get to Modi's Cabinet."
Gurmehar is the daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh, who died in the 1999 Kargil war. On Sunday, speaking on
NDTV's We The People, she said in a shaken voice, "People are calling me anti-national. I think it is very scary when people threaten you with violence or with rape... A guy called Rahul has given detailed explanation on how he would rape me. Giving rape threats to women of your country in the name of nationalism... is just not correct. It just isn't."
What escalated the Twitter war swirling around her was a comment by former cricketer Virender Sehwag, which appeared to mock Gurmehar's post. Actor Randeep Hooda also weighed in, and was attacked.
Gurmehar is a student of Lady Shri Ram College. She complained to the Delhi Commission for Women today.