A retired professor from IIT Delhi has been organising meetings in and around the city and addressing webinars to urge people to not fall for the polarisation trap of religion and ask political leaders to focus on real issues.

Vipin Kumar Tripathi, 73, arrived in the city a couple of days ago and has spoken at impromptu street corner meetings at Beckbagan, Rishra and Baruipur, among other places.

“A particular political party is trying to divide the country based on religion and this will not work. Remember this divide-and-rule policy was started by the British, who wanted to rule Indians with an iron hand and keep them oppressed. People like Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters managed to steer the nation through that time and now the onus is on us,” Tripathi said at a webinar organised on Tuesday.

He described the ongoing farmers' protests at Delhi’s borders as the single largest peaceful movement against a government since Mahatma Gandhi organised such farmers’ protests in places like Champaran in Bihar.

“I was with the farmers on Republic Day and it was largely peaceful. While the larger group adhered to the routes fixed by the Delhi Police, a smaller group moved towards Red Fort. There, too, they were not involved in any sort of violence and had only hoisted a flag on an empty flagpole,” said Tripathi.

The entire exercise was played up by the Centre in order to cover up its mistakes, Tripathi added.

He urged residents of Bengal, ahead of the Assembly polls, to ask those seeking votes on the basis of religion whether they would get jobs, whether health-care facilities and educational institutions would improve and whether their lives would change for the better.

“Whenever somebody knocks on your door for votes, ask them about jobs, about whether they can make sure that you will be able to afford your next meal,” said Tripathi.

Shah Alam, who runs an NGO, said that if Tripathi could stand up and say that things were wrong, the young, too, should step forward.

The son of Gandhian freedom fighter and wrestler Hardas Sharma, Tripathi was brought up in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh. He studied in Jhansi and Agra before joining IIT Delhi as a lecturer.

He also taught at the University of Maryland in the US for six years before leaving in 1982, saddened by America’s support for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

He returned to IIT Delhi, where he also held “special lectures” outside classrooms to talk about how “imperialism is still alive and sectarianism is its instrument”.

Pradip Basu, the dean of humanities and social sciences at Presidency University, who attended the seminar, said it was time people voiced their dissent against the central government, which has crippled the economy through demonetisation and is trying to polarise people on the basis of religion.