By IANS,
New Delhi: Shouting slogans and singing self-composed songs, holding banners and marching together, nearly 100 students, teachers and others came together here Sunday evening for a peaceful rally, demanding justice for slain Ujjain professor H.S. Sabharwal.
Organised by the slain professor’s son, Himanshu, the protest at the India Gate evoked a lot of interest, especially from the student community.
“We came to know about the Sabharwal case from our professor in college and decided this was a cause we wanted to stand for. A teacher was killed by students in broad daylight and three years later nothing is done about it,” said Veer Singh, one of the several students attending the protest and holding a ‘Justice for Professor Sabharwal’ placard.
“It’s just like the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo cases. Yesterday it was them, today it is Professor Sabharwal and tomorrow it could be me!” Singh, a Delhi University student, told IANS.
As they raised slogans like “We want justice” and “Professor Sabharwal’s killers should be arrested”, it caught the unwanted attention from policemen nearby who stressed that the protestors should stick to singing songs.
Sabharwal died soon after he was brutally beaten up by a group of students in Ujjain’s Madhav College August 2006.
However, a court in Maharashtra, where the trial was transferred on Himanshu’s plea, on July 13 acquitted six activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) – the students wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – of the charges of beating the professor to death. The court cited lack of evidence as the reason.
While Himanshu is still fighting for justice for his father, one of his close aides, Parminder Singh, was found murdered in the Delhi University campus Thursday night.
According to police, Singh, Himanshu and their friend Pooja were planning a candlelight vigil Sunday seeking justice. They pasted posters for the campaign in the campus between 8-11 p.m. Thursday.
Barely hours later, Singh’s body was noticed in the Maurice Nagar area near Khalsa College by a passer-by.
“It was shocking. Pooja, I and Parminder were sticking posters in the Delhi University area inviting people to join us in a candle light vigil to seek justice for Professor Sabharwal. A student leader of Ramjas college also joined us later,” Himanshu said.
“After that, we went our way. I dropped Pooja en route and reached home at 12.45 a.m. Around 1 a.m. I got a call from Parminder’s wife who said that he had not yet reached home. He was on his bike. I told his wife that he should be home soon,” he added.
When he finally got to know about Singh’s death, Himanshu was updating his blog on Facebook, writing about his father.
A portion of his updated blog read: “On the 26th of August, 2006, this man was killed in cold blood after his face was smeared with mud, his clothes torn and he was kicked and boxed in the chest which broke his ribs and punctured his lungs. I saw his body on the 27th, blue and black in the mortuary with eyes static in oblivion. For this man, I demand justice.”
Coming back to the issue of Singh’s murder, in relation to which Himanshu has been questioned by police, he said: “I was shocked. Parminder was a harmless guy, he couldn’t have animosity with anyone.”
“In these three years I have seen so much dirt around…it’s just unimaginable. First my father and then Parminder. Now some sections of people are trying to malign me. It just takes a toll on me at times,” he wrote.
“But I have seen the system so close that I can’t ignore it. I have to go on,” Himanshu told IANS, adding he has “reached the point of no return”.