Amid the ongoing row in connection with the portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the Aligarh Muslim University, Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt has said that it is embarrassing to fight for someone who is responsible for dividing the country.
The wrestler tweeted, “How embarrassing to fight for people like Jinnah. A man who was responsible for the partition of the country and is still dividing it. Then why are we fighting for a Pakistani leader? Wake up India.”
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On Wednesday, clashes took place when the students were demanding action against right-wing protesters who entered the AMU campus and demanded removal of Jinnah’s portrait from the Students’ Union Office, where it has been hanging for decades.
The row started after local BJP MP Satish Gautam wrote to AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor raising objections to the portrait.
Objecting to the portrait, the Aligarh MP asked the Vice Chancellor to explain the presence of the portrait adding that after India’s Partition, there is no justification for displaying the picture of Pakistan’s creator.
Also Read: Jinnah portrait row: After clashes in AMU, internet services suspended in Aligarh
In the letter, the BJP leader had said that he wanted to know under what circumstances the portrait of Jinnah was still placed in the university.
The University said portraits of all life members of the student union hang there. Jinnah, a founder member of the University Court, had also been given this honour before Partition.
On Friday, AMU vice chancellor Tariq Mansoor visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital where three of the students injured in the police lathi-charge are being treated.