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BJP vs Oppn over ‘slogans against Modi, Shah’ in JNU after bail denied to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam
Alleged videos of the protest held inside the JNU campus on Monday night showed students condemning Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah.
A huge row has erupted over slogans raised by students at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), allegedly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Amit Shah, after the Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 riots conspiracy case.
Purported videos of the protest held inside the campus on Monday night showed students condemning Modi and Shah.
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These slogans have divided the BJP and Congress, as the ruling party blamed the Opposition for being “visible behind these people like Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and others”, while the grand old party supported their right to protest but called for “temperament” in language.
Jawaharlal Nehru University students' union president Aditi Mishra said students hold a protest every year to denounce the violence that took place on the campus on January 5, 2020. “All of the slogans raised in the protest were ideological and do not attack anyone personally. They were not directed towards anyone,” Mishra told news agency PTI.
What BJP said on slogans against Modi, Shah
Delhi minister Kapil Mishra described it as the “frustration” of those he said support terrorists and Naxals. He added that steps taken against extremism and recent Supreme Court verdicts have unsettled groups that had earlier conspired against the nation.
“Some people raise slogans against the nation, religion, verdict of the Supreme Court, in support of Afzal Guru, terrorists, naxals... The Naxals, terrorists, are being eliminated, and those who conspired against Delhi, the Supreme Court has announced its verdict on it, so this is just their frustration,” he told news agency ANI.
BJP leader Tarvinder Marwah said the protesting students are “dancing to the tune of foreign forces”. He told PTI, “In our country, especially in Delhi, you have seen that a bomb blast happened recently. I strongly condemn it and make a firm appeal to the government that a case of sedition should be filed against them, and they should be punished with imprisonment.”
Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called the protesters part of an “anti-India urban naxal gang” and slammed Congress and other Left parties for standing with “anti-India elements”.
He said, “This shows that they are an anti-India urban naxal gang which always keeps people like Umar and Sharjeel and their vote bank above national security... Be it Congress or Left or their ecosystem in JNU, they always stand with anti-India elements.”
Delhi’s environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa warned that anyone who creates unrest would go to jail.
How Congress, other Opposition parties reacted
Reacting to the controversial slogans, Congress leader and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s son, Sandeep Dikshit, supported the students’ right to protest but raised objections to the “kind of language” used by them.
“Anybody has the right to protest against any court judgment. But I don't think the use of words like ‘kabr’ and all is acceptable. These are students. They have their right to protest,” he told PTI.
He added, “The Congress has always stood for the fact that, in public discourse, we must temper our language. You can criticise people, but there is a way and manner in which you put whatever emotions you have into words.”
CPI(M) leader Hannan Mollah said that such slogans should not be raised, but also said that similar incidents have happened in the past.
“These kinds of slogans were raised 100 times in the nation in the past 50 years. Though these kinds of slogans should not be raised, they should be very careful in raising slogans,” he said.
RJD MP Manoj Jha said that he is against death chants but questioned selective anger against similar slogans.
“Personally, I am against death chants, and therefore such slogans have no place in a civilised democracy. But what is this selective anger? When something was said about the girls of Bihar, why did no one show any anger? These are unhealthy symptoms in our democracy,” he said.
JNU seeks FIR against ‘provocative’ slogans
In an official letter written by the chief security officer at JNU to the cops, the university sought the registration of an FIR into the incident for “raising highly objectionable, provocative and inflammatory slogans.”
“The raising of such slogans is wholly inconsistent with democratic dissent, violates the JNU Code of Conduct, and has the potential to seriously disturb public order, campus harmony, and the safety and security environment of the University,” the letter read.
“I have also been directed to request you to lodge an FIR under the relevant sections of BNS in the above incident,” it added.
With inputs from agencies
