AISA claims Mount Carmel college in Bengaluru cancelled panel discussion after ABVP ‘threat’

All India Students’ Association (AISA), Bengaluru, on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) claimed that Mount Carmel (Deemed-to-be University) cancelled a panel discussion scheduled to be held on its campus on September 23 after members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) allegedly warned the administration of protests if the event was held with the participation of Spark magazine editor Aratrika Dey.

The discussion, titled “Gender Politics and the Media in the Fight for Equality”, was to feature Ms. Dey, political activist and editor of Spark magazine; Alex, programme coordinator, Vimochana; and Gita Aravamudan, author and journalist.

In a release, AISA claimed that the ABVP had “threatened” the college administration over the invitation extended to “controversial speakers”, and condemned what it called “repeated intimidation tactics” aimed at disrupting democratic spaces on college campuses.

However, Abhinandan Mirji, president of the ABVP’s Bengaluru unit, denied that any threats had been issued. “There were internal discussions in our organisation about the event. However, we did not find anything objectionable in it,” he said. The Hindu tried reaching the university administration for a response, but did not receive one.

Incident at NLSIU

Earlier this month, the ABVP had opposed the proposed screening of a documentary on imprisoned activist Umar Khalid at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). The screening, scheduled for September 14, was subsequently postponed by the students citing security and logistics issues. 

The ABVP not only submitted a complaint to the NLSIU administration seeking cancellation of the screening organised by the Law and Society (LawSoc) Committee, but also wrote to Union Ministers Amit Shah, Pralhad Joshi, and Arjun Ram Meghwal seeking permanent cancellation of the screening.

The LawSoc committee proposed to screen Lalit Vachani’s documentary Mr. Khalid Prisoner No. 626710 at NLSIU, as part of Political Prisoners’ Day on September 14. ABVP and other right-wing activists had written to the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar of the university to cancel the event or face ‘serious consequences’.