Thiruvananthapuram: Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s (ABVP) unrelenting fight for justice in the Siddharth’s death has finally bore fruit. The case has been handed over to the CBI by the state government. ABVP’s timely intervention in the case had made Siddharth’s death a national issue. The left government found it hard to face a national embarrassment especially when the Lok Sabha election is around the corner.
ABVP was the first student organization to reveal that Siddharth’s death was not a suicide. When ABVP brought up the issue first, the mainstream channels were reluctant to accept the organization’s stand on Siddharth’s death. However, when the postmortem report came out, every media house realized that Siddharth’s death cannot be pinned down to just suicide.
Siddharth’s death would have gone unnoticed but for the brave revelation made by a student on the same university after three days of finding Siddharth’s body hanging in the university hostel bathroom. The student contacted ABVP National Working Committee member Sreehari NCT and told him that Siddharth was killed. He also said that the students of the university are helpless and requested Sreehari to intervene in the issue immediately.
Within a short time, ABVP collected crucial information and on the very next day began protest against the dean and warden of the hostel, who had tried to protect those responsible for Siddharth’s death.
ABVP had put forward three main demands in their protests which were (1) The case must be handed over to the CBI (2) The dean must be made an accused in the case and (3) Arrest all the SFI leaders behind the death of Siddharth.
Timeline of ABVP’s protests
February 24 – ABVP activists blocks the dean at the campus for not taking action against those who were responsible for Siddharth’s death.
February 26 – ABVP announces protest demanding a comprehensive investigation into Siddharth’s death.
February 27 – The nationalist student organization conducts protests in all the campuses in Kerala
February 29 – ABVP state secretary visits Siddharth’s house at Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram district. Following the visit a hunger strike begins at the Pookode Veterinary University campus in Wayanad district, where Siddharth was found dead.
March 1 – ABVP announces protests at district centers.
March 4 – ABVP leaders hands over the revelations made by students of the university in a press meeting.
March 5 – Siddharth’s death becomes a national issue. Protests erupt in central universities across the country demanding justice for Siddharth.
March 6 – ABVP National Secretary, Shravan B Raj, visits Siddharth’s house and speaks with his parents. Protests continues in every university in Kerala.
March 7 – ABVP organizes a long march from Siddharth’s home in Nedumangad to the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram city. The 18 km foot march called ‘Chalo Secretariat’ was led by ABVP State Secretary, EU Eswaraprasad. The long march which began in the morning reached the Secretariat at night with thousands of students, parents, people’s representatives, and common people participating.
March 8 – The ABVP’s proactive intervention and sustained fight for thirteen days finally forced the state government to hand over the case to the CBI.
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