Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College cancels BJP leader's talk on Dr BR Ambedkar under pressure from Left unions

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LSR cancels Ambedkar talk: Delhi's prestigious Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) has cancelled a talk by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan which was scheduled to be held on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti on Thursday (April 14). The session titled 'Ambedkar Beyond Constitution', organised by LSR's SC/ST cell was reportedly cancelled after objections raised by Left student unions particularly the Students Federation of India (SFI).

Reacting to LSR's decision to cancel the event, Paswan said it was a sign of "institutionalisation of cancel culture" in the country.

"Can the subaltern speak? Not at one of the premier institution of country, Lady Sriram College, University of Delhi," Paswan said. 

"On what account was my voice stifled? My ideas or my identity, regardless of that this is a great to the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar. An institution can'be an Eco chamber. As a teaching faculty this saddens me even more when students close their horizon!" he went on to add. 

'Reaction based on recent developments in JNU, Karnakata'

A text message sent to Paswan by Astha Kumari, who was coordinating the event for LSR, stated that the talk was cancelled keeping in view the recent incidents in Karnataka and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

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"We regret to inform you that the talk that we had scheduled on Ambedkar Jayanti, on 14th April needs to be called off. There has been no such order from the administration, however, there has been huge outcry from the student body stating their disagreement with this talk," she said.

"This is a reaction based on a mix of recent developments in Karnataka and JNU. Since, we would like to refrain the atmosphere of the SC/ST Cell, especially LSR from becoming a political space instead of academic one, it was in the best interest of the institution to cancel the event," Kumari added. 

'Cancel culture, intolerance is bane for academic institutions'

Reacting sharply over the development, senior BJP leader and in-charge of party's National Information and Technology Department Amit Malviya said such act by Left-backed student unions obstructs free expression.

"The intolerant ideological and political assertion of Communist sponsored student bodies, that permeates our academic institutions, is a bane. It obstructs free expression and assimilation of competing ideas. LSR now succumbs, cancels @IGuruPrakash’s lecture under pressure," Malviya said in his tweet.