Praveen Nishad compared contributions of Gandhi and Nehru to that of Jinnah in freedom struggle. (File)
As tension simmered at Aligarh Muslim University over a portrait of the Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Samajwadi Party lawmaker Praveen Nishad compared the contribution of Gandhi and Nehru to that of Jinnah during the freedom struggle.
"BJP is playing dirty politics over Jinnah which is highly deplorable. Nehru and Gandhi contributed for the freedom of the country but it cannot be denied that Jinnah equally contributed for it," Mr Nishad said.
The administration has suspended internet services in communally sensitive Aligarh district from 2 pm today to midnight tomorrow to prevent rumour mongering. AMU students continued their sit-in at the university's Baab-e-Syed gate, where they had clashed with the police on Wednesday. They are boycotting classes for the next two days.
Wednesday's clash took place when the students were demanding action against right-wing protesters who had entered the campus and wanted Jinnah's portrait removed from the student union office, where it has been hanging for decades.
The students offered Friday prayers at the scene of the dharna in which a large number of teachers and other members of the AMU fraternity participated.
Mr Nishad had scored a surprise victory in the recent bypolls from Gorakhpur, represented by Yogi Adityanath before he became the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. During his Karnataka election tour, Mr Adityanath said he was against honouring Pakistan's founder.
The Jinnah row started after BJP's Aligarh lawmaker Satish Gautam wrote to AMU raising objections to the portrait. The University said portraits of all life members of the student union hang there. Jinnah, a founder member of the University Court, had also been given this honour before Partition.