Several Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni, including former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Tuesday, attacked the Centre over the violence at the university, alleging that the government is trying to “destroy” the Constitution.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury also called out the Government over the situation in JNU.
Kanhaiya Kumar, who is a CPI leader and a former JNUSU president, said, “JNU always talks about issues that are not even reported. The government has made a mistake. They have chosen an enemy that is intelligent and studious.”
Addressing students at an alumni meet at the university, Kumar further said that “hatred for JNU is not hatred for a university or ideology but the thought of how a country should be”.
“… In JNU, a girl can step out of library and walk alone. In this campus, 40 per cent people are from ‘Adivasi’ or poor families,” he said.
Kanhaiya Kumar also added that he takes it as an honour when he is called the leader of the “tukde-tukde gang”.
“If you are with JNU, you are called a Leftist,” he added.
“Tukde-tukde” is a term often used by right-wing parties to attack the Left-backed groups and their supporters.
Earlier on Monday, while expressing his displeasure over the violence that erupted in Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday night, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said: “I can certainly tell you that when I studied in JNU, we did not see any ‘tukde- tukde’ gang there.”
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, at the event, sought to know why FIRs were registered against JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh and alleged that it was an afterthought.
“We are defending the constitution and if there is any anti-national, it is the government which is trying to destroy the constitution,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary said.
He further said that around 100 MPs will write a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding the firing of JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar.
(With PTI inputs)