If Afzal Guru is martyr, who is Hanamanthappa: Yogeshwar Dutt

Yogeshwar Dutt, who won a bronze at the Olympics in 2012, shared the 19-line poem on his official Facebook and Twitter accounts on February 13 urging protesters to stop their activities at JNU.

Ace wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s poem about the controversy that erupted last week at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over the Afzal Guru event has gone viral on the internet.

Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt with his bronze medal during the medal ceremony of Men’s 60 kg freestyle event at the 2012 Olympics. (PTI File Photo)

Dutt, who won a bronze at the Olympics in 2012, shared the 19-line poem on his official Facebook and Twitter accounts on February 13 urging protesters to stop their activities at JNU.

Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the event and the hanging of Guru, the 2001 Parliament attack convict, was also denounced by some participants. JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charges, following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and the ABVP.

In his poem, Dutt compares the ‘anti-national elements’ to 11th century king Mahmud Ghajni and questions their right to expression as they choose to demean the country.

“If Afzal Guru was a martyr, then what should we call Lance Naik Hanamanthappa?” he writes.

His Facebook post went viral and was liked by 74,664 people and shared by 16,276 users.

This copy has been updated to correct a reference to Ghajni.