The Delhi Commission for Women on Monday sought immediate arrest of those who made rape and death threats to Lady Shri Ram College student Gurmehar Kaur online, ANI reported. Two women constables of Delhi Police will be providing round-the-clock protection to Kaur.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal said Kaur had sent her screenshots of rape threats she had received online. “We have written to Delhi Police seeking an immediate FIR against these miscreants, so that they are put behind bars,” Maliwal said.

Speaking to the media, Kaur said, “This is not about politics. This is about students and campuses. Nobody can threaten a woman with rape.”

“My dad took bullets for India, I am also willing to take bullets for students,” Kaur told ANI.

ABVP’s Tiranga March

Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad on Monday led a “Tiranga March” in Delhi University’s North Campus. The members of the student union used hashtags such as #March4Nation and #IstandWithNationalism and asked students to join the march, reported India Today.

Politics over Kaur’s comments

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Bharatiya Janata Party Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha reacted to Kaur’s 2016 silent video campaign calling for an end to state-sponsored conflict between India and Pakistan. “Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him,” says the placard that Kaur is seen holding in the video.

Raising doubts about the campaign, Rijiju on Twitter asked, “Who is polluting this young girl’s mind?” Simha, on the other hand, compared Kaur to Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim. Juxtaposing an image of Dawood and Kaur, the caption read, “At least Dawood did not use the crutches of his [policeman] father’s name to justify his anti-national stand”.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said the party supported with the students. “For every voice raised in anger, intolerance and ignorance there will be a Gurmehar Kaur,” he said.

Cricketer Virender Sehwag and Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda also got involved the controversy. On Sunday, Sehwag had published a post that showed him holding a placard that read, “I didn’t score two triple centuries. My bat did.” Hooda had said Kaur’s campaign “reeks of political usage of a man’s child who died defending the line drawn.”

However, Hooda on Monday said his comments about the incident was being misconstrued. “She spoke up, she stood for something she believes in, so then, she must also have the courage and fortitude to listen to the voices against it,” he wrote in a Facebook post titled “Don’t hang me over a laugh!”. The Bollywood actor said he was wrongly being accused of instigating hate threats against Kaur. He also wrote that “Threatening a woman with violence is an even more heinous crime and the perpetrators should be brought to task with the most severe punishment”.

Ramjas College principal chats with students before retiring

Ramjas College principal Dr Rajendra Prasad on Monday asked the students to “confront ideas and not people”. “Appeal to the students to not indulge in any activity which spoils the name of Ramjas College. Let us resolve problems in a peaceful and constructive manner,” he said during a chat with the students.