BackRajnath’s comments linking Saeed to JNU protest sparks row
Opposition parties demanded that the home minister provide proof to back up his 'Hafiz Saeed support' claim on the event at the JNU campus
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New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh unleashed a political storm on Sunday with a claim that an event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi in memory of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received “support" from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, amid an escalating showdown over the crisis at the varsity.
Opposition parties demanded that the home minister provide proof to back up his claim on the event at the JNU campus.
In a shot in the arm for the students demanding the release of JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was slapped with sedition charges, the teachers’ associations of 40 central universities extended support to the protest by the students and teachers at JNU.
The JNU Teachers’ Association also openly came out against the varsity administration for mishandling the matter and particularly slammed it for allowing police action before the completion of a probe by the university’s proctorial committee in connection with the event.
Amid the protests and mounting outrage over the police action at JNU, Rajnath said, “The incident (Afzal event) at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand."
“What has happened is very unfortunate," Singh told reporters in Allahabad, referring to the event at JNU campus to commemorate the third death anniversary of Afzal Guru.
Singh’s comments about Hafiz’s links with the event where anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, sparked a political row with opposition parties asking him to provide evidence.
National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said it is a “very serious charge" to level against the students and that the evidence must be shared with all.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the home minister has to share the evidence he has with the country to back up his “serious allegation". Communist Party of India leader D. Raja also demanded that the evidence be made public.
Meanwhile, a home ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that Rajnath’s statement was based on inputs from “different agencies".
“The statement of the home minister is based on the inputs available from different agencies," the spokesperson said without elaborating.
Rajnath’s comments came two days after a series of tweets, purportedly by Saeed, had appeared under a hashtag asking Pakistanis to support the agitation at JNU.
The police are investigating as to whether the Twitter handle actually belonged to the LeT founder.
Throwing its weight behind the students and teachers of JNU, Federation of Central University Teachers Association president Nandita Narain said that the teachers’ associations of 40 central universities, including of Hyderabad University, have extended support to the agitation by the JNU students and the teaching community.
Seven of the eight JNU students who were debarred from academic activities earlier this week in connection with the Afzal Guru event have been asked to appear before a high-level committee of the varsity that is investigating the matter.
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