Patna, Jan 6 (PTI) Union minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday deplored objectionable slogans being raised on the JNU campus in Delhi, asserting that the university had become a “camp office” of the ‘tukde tukde gang’ patronised by the “opposition and other pro-Pakistan elements”.
The BJP leader said the crime of JNU student leaders Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who were on Monday denied bail by the Supreme Court, “was far more serious than Azmal Kasab”, the Pakistani terrorist captured in Mumbai during the 26/11 terror attack.
After the SC denied bail to Khalid and Imam on Monday, controversial slogans were allegedly raised on the campus. A purported video of the incident went viral on social media.
“It seems that the JNU has become the camp office of the ‘tukde tukde gang’. They receive patronage from pro-Pakistan elements like Rahul Gandhi, RJD and the TMC. Those who show solidarity with Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are traitors and deserve to be charged with sedition,” Singh told reporters here.
“Do they even realise what Umar Khalid and his ilk were doing ? They were involved in a conspiracy to cut off the ‘Chicken’s Neck’. It was a crime far more serious than that of Kasab,” he asserted.
The allusion was to a speech made by Imam, who belongs to Jehanabad in Bihar, during the anti-CEA protests in 2020. The ‘Chicken’s Neck’ is a term used to denote a narrow strip of India’s territory that connects the mainland to the northeast. Both Imam and Khalid are in jail in connection with riots that broke out in Delhi in the aftermath of the protest.
Singh, who represents the Begusarai Lok Sabha constituency in the state, also said, “Those who shouted slogans in JNU were expressing the wish to dig the graves of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. They need to know that Modi and Shah dig the graves of anti-nationals”.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by the women’s wing of the BJP, Bihar Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar termed the incident “unfortunate”, and said action should be taken against “those involved in anti-national activities”.
Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was also present at the event, emphasised the need to “teach a lesson” to those who “display anti-national sentiments”.
“People who speak the language of terrorism and extremism, and display anti-national sentiments, will be taught a lesson,” Sinha said.
Sinha asserted that terrorism was nearing its end in the country, and the time has come to eliminate the “snakes” who support terrorists.
Bihar minister and former BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal also called for “severe punishment” for those who raised such slogans.
“Those who speak against the country and its leaders, and harbour anti-national sentiments, have no right to live here,” he added. PTI SUK NAC PKD RBT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.