Party commemorates 16th century reformer Sankar Dev with an eye on Assam polls.

One is a revered icon of Assam nationalism and the other is a party looking to appropriate symbols for electoral gains in the State that goes to the polls early next year.

Delhi University on August 12 offered its platform to the BJP-RSS combine to commemorate the 16th century saint-scholar, playwright, social-religious reformer Sankar Dev.

The occasion was to commemorate the re-print of the book “Mahakavi Sankar Dev: Vicharak Evam Samaj Sudharak”.

The book had gone out of circulation and its re-print, officials explained, was an attempt to popularise it.

The invitees included RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal, who has been described as a regular to the university campus since 2014, and a few BJP MPs from Assam.

Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Sudheesh Pachauri and South Campus director Umesh Rai were also present.

A special invitee was journalist Ram Bahadur Rai, who also edits the magazine Yathavat, which has its share of admirers and critics who say it is pro-BJP in content.

'Every State is important to BJP'

From Assam, writer and political commentator Hiren Gohain said: “Every State is important to the BJP for its hegemonic drive.”

Capturing Assam might have incalculable influence on other States. Muslim infiltration is a major concern for all the north-east States. And public opinion is already edgy about it in Assam. Since Sankar Dev is an icon or culture-hero for the Assamese, the BJP and the RSS are bent on manipulating Assamese sentiment by using his name. The RSS already has a chain of schools all over the State named after Sankar Dev.”

The literary event, which had more politicians than academics in the list of invitees, also marks the first official engagement of Delhi University with the BJP-RSS.

Social scientist from Assam Udayon Misra said: “I see it as a process of appropriating anything that will give them electoral gains.”

In the recent past, academic institutes that have opened their doors to the BJP/RSS have included the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, which was in the news for providing its platform to Baba Ramdev and members of the RSS’s Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram on the implementation of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, a Human Resource Development Ministry initiative on transformative processes for rural development.