Gurmehar Kaur’s comments seem to have snowballed into a huge controversy, and now family members of other martyrs are speaking up against her comments. One person who spoke up against her was martyr Sukhwinder Singh’s daughter from Ambala who criticised Gurmehar’s statement and asked her to take back her statement. She was quoted saying by News 18 that Gurmehar’s statement was an insult to the nation. She added that even her father was martyred in Kargil and that he was killed by Pakistan, and she would say it as many times as feasible.
Earlier, Kargil war hero martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia’s father N.N. Kalia on Tuesday said the honour and dignity of women is paramount, adding the culprits must be punished. ‘Women’s honour and dignity of any caste, creed or religion is of paramount importance and Gurmehar Kaur has alleged threats of rape attempts. Anyone who attempts such heinous crime must be punished under the existing law,’ he told ANI. He, however, disagreed with Gurmehar’s assertion that Pakistan did not kill her father but war killed him. ‘It would have been a dishonour and insult to her father’ sacrifice for India and for all other martyrs by saying that they are not killed by Pakistan but by war. And I absolutely defer and disagree with this statement of her,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Gurmehar has pulled out of a march today against campus violence. In a series of tweets, she has appealed to others to join the "Save DU" march at the Delhi University campus by students and teachers in huge numbers.
Earlier, an FIR was registered against unknown persons in connection with the case of a army martyr's daughter who complained of receiving "rape threats" allegedly from ABVP members. Yesterday, police had received a letter from Delhi Commission for Women demanding immediate registration of an FIR against those who had threatened Gurmehar Kaur (20). The FIR was registered under relevant sections of the IT Act and IPC, said a senior police officer. "Yesterday, DCW forwarded a complaint of a DU student reg. online abuse. Immediately, area DCP spoke to her & provided necessary security. Her complaint was examined by Cyber Cell& an FIR No.32/17, u/s 354-A,506 IPC & 67 IT Act,PS EOW has been registered & invstigation tkn up," Delhi Police said in a series of tweets.
Kaur had last week changed her Facebook profile picture to one in which she was holding a placard reading, "I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP." Ramjas college had last week witnessed large-scale violence between members of the AISA and the ABVP. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on 'Culture of Protests' which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.
With inputs from PTI and ANI
