Modi govt is targeting JNU because it never produced right-wing leaders, says Shiv Sena

In mouthpiece Saamana, Sena says it was unfortunate that the govt, under the garb of maintaining law and order, is trying to crush all voices of dissent.

JNU teachers protest against the alleged police brutality meted out to students during their protest | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is targeting the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as it hasn’t produced anyone with a right-wing mindset, the Shiv Sena said Thursday in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

Titled ‘Suppression on Delhi streets’, the editorial said it was unfortunate that the government, under the garb of maintaining law and order, is trying to crush all voices of dissent.

“Since the JNU has produced many experts and politicians, but none from the right-wing and, hence, this alone should not be used as an excuse to violently suppress the students of this university who are raising their voice for their rights,” it said.

Students of the university have been protesting for the last month over a steep hike in hostel fees. In the wake of the protests, JNU partially rolled back the hike on 13 November for students belonging to the below poverty line category. The protests, however, continued, with the students calling the rollback an “eye-wash”.

The Sena mouthpiece also criticised the role of Delhi Police, which comes under the jurisdiction of the central government, for the lathi-charge on the protesting JNU students. 

The editorial stated that it is problematic that even visually-impaired and physically challenged students were detained during the protests. “The police that beat up such people cannot be the custodian of law and in the service of citizens,” it added. 

The government, the Sena said, is wrongly using the police force to suppress the JNU students. There might be a tussle between the JNU and the government, but curbing a student protest in such a bloody manner is not acceptable, it added. 

‘If people speak about atrocities, they’re called anti-nationals’

According to the Sena, the 2012 Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement helped in the rise of the BJP, but now that the party is in power, it is trying to “violently” suppress similar agitations.

“Seven years ago Anna Hazare started an anti-corruption protest against the then Congress-led UPA government and a number of BJP leaders became part of it at Jantar Mantar,” it said.

If the BJP is in power today, it should not suppress the students’ protest “by means and measures, which end up being marred by blood”, it added.

The editorial, however, said the protesting students should not have crossed the barricades installed by the police and “no one supports that”. But the Sena also maintained that their demands should have been addressed by the government.

The party even supported the demands of the JNU students, pointing out that hostel fees have been increased exorbitantly, and students from lower and middle-class families cannot afford to study under such circumstances.

“There was no need to suppress the agitation and the officials and the ministry concerned should have given the students a patient hearing. Instead, the government is beating the teachers and the students, who are demanding their fair share,” the editorial stated.

Terming it high-handedness of the government, the Sena said when people speak about the atrocities committed against them, they are labelled as “anti-nationals”.

“When one points out the atrocities being meted out to them, they are called anti-nationals and cases of sedition are filed against them,” it said. 

‘Govt has problem with the university’s name Nehru’

The Sena further said the Modi government has a problem with the name of the university.

“The government has a problem with the very name of the university “Nehru” and despite using government machinery it failed to come to power in the university’s student elections,” it said. 

People with a right-wing mindset have often termed JNU as a “hub of Naxal and communist ideologues”, but they shouldn’t forget that it has also given the country Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.