Day After JNU Violence, Amit Shah Whips Up Hate Again

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has finally spoken after violence broke out in Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday and students and teachers were brutally attacked by at least 50 masked people. Don’t be mistaken though, he hasn’t reacted to the violence or witnesses who claim that the Delhi Police, which reports to him, did nothing to rein in the violence. 

The Home Minister again made promises for a sky-high Ram temple at Ayodhya, accused the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of misleading people on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and talked about the Balakot strike. 

When the protests against the CAA had first raged across the country in December and anger was growing over police brutality at students of Jamia Millia Islamia University, Shah had addressed an election rally in Jharkhand and promised the construction of a “sky-high” Ram temple in Ayodhya within four months. 

Ahead of the Delhi elections, the Home Minister was laying the foundation stone for the Delhi Cycle Walk on Monday and remained mum on the JNU violence.

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The Home Minister, instead, claimed some students had raised slogans like ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ and said they should be “sent to jail”. The Kejriwal government, he added, was not granting sanction to prosecute them. Shah was referring to the 2016 sedition case against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others.

Even on Sunday, he had accused Kejriwal of “favouring the tukde tukde” gang by not giving sanction to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar, according to PTI .

He accused the AAP government of not doing anything in its tenure other than deceiving people by publishing advertisements.

Talking about the Ayushman Bharat scheme, he said the Kejriwal government is not letting the poor get its benefits due to selfish reasons. 

He also accused Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of misleading minorities on the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Shah said Delhi bore the brunt of “riots” for four days during the recent protests against the amended Citizenship Act and held AAP and the Congress responsible for it.

He also said that just like Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, both Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi asked for proof of the Balakot strike.  

About the JNU violence, officials told PTI the Home Minister spoke to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and requested him to call representatives from the university for discussions.   

The Home Ministry tweeted that Shah has spoken to the Delhi Police Commissioner and instructed him to take necessary action. 

Protests have been planned across various cities against the violent attack on students and faculty of JNU. The JNUSU and teachers association have accused the Vice Chancellor of being responsible for the violence and demanded his ouster. 

At least 20 students, including JNU Student Union President Aishe Ghosh, sustained severe injuries and were admitted to AIIMS. Students told Huffpost India that the masked goons appeared to be working with representatives of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). 

The ABVP has denied any role in the attack, saying 25 of its members were injured in the attack, and blamed instead the Left.

Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar were among the first to react from the government . Condemning the violence, Sitharaman, an alumna of JNU, said, “This government, regardless of what has been said the past few weeks, wants universities to be safe spaces for all students.”

Jaishankar also condemned the violence, saying, “This is completely against the tradition and culture of the university,”. 

(With PTI inputs)