Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP Spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan, who was due for a talk at Lady Sri Ram College, LSR, took to social media to express his disappointment after the student cell of the college cancelled the event. LSR’s SC, ST Cell had organised an event called “Ambedkar beyond Constitution" on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti today at which the BJP Spokesperson was supposed to deliver a lecture on Dr BR Ambedkar. Taking to social media, the BJP Spokesperson, who is also an Assistant Professor of Law at Patna University and an advisor at the Dalit India Chambers of Commerce and Industry, expressed his disappointment about the cancellation of the event in a tweet that stated “Can the subaltern speak? My experience of #CancelCulture!""It was informed this morning that the event has been cancelled at the behest of my political affiliation and my role as national spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party,” he said in his statement regarding the event.
The LSR organizing student cell reached out to the spokesperson about the cancellation of the event through the text message that mentioned that "there has been a huge outcry from the student body stating their disagreement with this talk. This is a reaction based on a mix of the recent developments in Karnataka and JNU". Speaking to Republic TV, Paswan said, "A week ago I was invited. The University said it was celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti and organising a session on Ambedkar Beyond Constitution. I was looking forward to it, as LSR, you know is a premier institution. But, unfortunately, I got a message from the organisers yesterday that the invite has been rescinded and it's cancelled at the behest of some resistance from the student community."Saying that he did not delve much into it as it was meaningless on his part to do so, Paswan asserted that the message the University's actions sent was deeply problematic and reflective of the student organisation SFI's "feudalistic and elitist mindset." Expressing that he has no problems with "LSR, the Institution" Paswan expressed, "An institution must be a space for debate. An institution must be a space for discussion - divergent discussion - because we are coming from a civilization where the Upanishads have categorically taught us that let noble thoughts come from all directions and still be rooted in our culture and civilization."