For about two weeks now Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and its affiliates have been at the forefront of defining who a nationalist is and who isn’t. Anyone that doesn’t fit into its definition is accorded the tag of an anti-national. The youth wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has gone from demanding expulsion of students responsible for the February 9 event at Jawaharlal Nehru University to organising a “Nation First Tricolour March”. In the midst of all the drama, it probably hadn’t anticipated three of its own members to break free.

On February 17, members of JNU ABVP unit: Pradeep Narwal, joint secretary; Rahul Yadav, president, School of Social Sciences; and Ankit Hans, secretary, School of Social Sciences resigned from their posts and the party. Pradeep Narwal posted a status on Facebook citing reasons for this decision. Some of his main grievances were regarding the negative campaign targeting JNU and the handling of the Rohith Vemula suicide case by the ruling party.

Yadav, 22, is the youngest of the three. Yadav and Hans, 26, are pursuing their Master’s in Economics. Hans became secretary in January. Narwal, 24, is from Rohtak, Haryana, and is pursuing his Master’s in History at JNU. He had been a member of the ABVP for around seven months before resigning.

In his interview with Newslaundry, Narwal spoke about his decision to leave the party. Speaking at the Periyar Hostel in JNU, Narwal criticised the way the central government dealt with the Rohith Vemula incident. He said the university is an autonomous place and the intervention of ministers and politicians is not welcome at all. He also stated that the ABVP does not want to deal with the issue of casteism.

Narwal was present at the event in JNU on February 9. As a member of the ABVP, he was there chanting “nationalist” slogans. He unequivocally condemned the “anti-India” slogans that were chanted but also stated that it was the handiwork of outsiders and not JNU students. He said some of these outsiders had support from JNU students. However, he stressed on the point that “8,000 students in the university cannot be blamed for the deeds of 8”.

Narwal spoke his mind on why he thought the coverage of the JNU row by certain sections of the media was unjust. He singles out Zee News as being the worst of the lot. He feels that due to the condemnable actions of a handful, the reputation of an entire institution was being tarnished because of media trials.

Narwal proudly described JNU as the biggest “nationalist” institute and said those who beat people in the name of the flag are the most “anti- national” and “unconstitutional”. Clearing up what he felt were misconceptions created about JNU owing to media trials, he parts with this message: “Please stop listening to these messages on social media which say that JNU is anti-national. It’s not like that. It’s the most democratic campus in this country.”