Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to use nationalism to create fear psychosis and added it was wrong to dub Jawaharlal Nehru University as “a terro
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to use nationalism to create fear psychosis and added it was wrong to dub Jawaharlal Nehru University as “a terrorist centre.” In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Kejriwal also urged him to act against “lumpen and anarchist elements” like city BJP legislator O.P. Sharma, who was filmed attacking a CPI activist outside the Patiala House court on Monday.
Mr Kejriwal also met Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday and discussed the grim situation in the university with him.
During the meeting that lasted 15 minutes, Mr Kejriwal voiced concern over the prevailing atmosphere at the institution arising out of an event to protest against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Sources said the chief minister told Mr Singh that the issue got complicated due to police action against the students. The Union home minister told Mr Kejriwal that the police was probing the matter and action is being taken as per the law, the sources added. The chief minister also discussed a few administrative issues relating to the Delhi government with Mr Singh.
In his letter to Prime Minister Modi, Mr Kejriwal said he condemns anti-India slogans allegedly raised in the JNU campus and added that “it is not correct to convert nationalism into a device for creating fear psychosis by using constitutional institutions to run them according to whims and fancies.”
“It is extremely dangerous that the JNU incident is being portrayed to show this institution as a terrorist centre. The JNU and its students have achieved fame at the international level due to its high academic standards and the hard work of its students. It is completely wrong to brand such a prestigious institution as a centre of terrorists,” Mr Kejriwal added.
The chief minister’s letter follows the arrest of the JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans at a meeting in the campus.
On Monday, before Mr Kumar was to be produced at the Patiala House court, some lawyers attacked journalists and JNU students and teachers. Mr Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in Delhi, was filmed chasing and attacking a CPI activist on a road near the court.
Mr Kejriwal demanded “immediate action” against Mr Sharma “to give a clear signal that such kind of activities will not be tolerated. He is an MLA of BJP, and it (the BJP) must also take action against him. I feel that even if you once call this MLA and scold him, he will not dare to repeat his actions again in life. If that is not done, then such elements feel they have the complete support of the Central government.”
