The protest at JNU was allegedly organised by members of the Congress's student wing NSUI.
Highlights
- Home Ministry asked for a report on burning of PM Modi's effigies in JNU
- The protest was allegedly organized by members of NSUI
- JNU's VC had already started an investigation into the incident
In the makings of a new conflict point between the government and students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the home ministry has asked for a report on the burning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigies on campus on Tuesday.
Sources say the ministry has asked the police to submit a detailed report on the effigy-burning by a section of students on Dussehra, which is celebrated with the symbolic burning of the demon king Ravana to depict his defeat by Lord Ram and the victory of good over evil.
The protest was allegedly organized by members of the Congress's student wing NSUI. Protesters allegedly burnt effigies also of BJP chief Amit Shah, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, Malegaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya and yoga teacher Baba Ramdev at a popular campus hangout called the "Saraswati Dhaba".
"The effigy-burning was to symbolise our dissatisfaction with the current government. The idea is to root out the evil from governance and bring about a system that is pro-student and pro-people," the Press Trust of India quoted Sunny Diman, an NSUI activist and candidate in the recent JNU student polls, as saying.
JNU's Vice Chancellor had already started an investigation into the incident. University officials have not responded to questions on the effigy burning or whether the so-called protest was sanctioned.
The central government and students at the prestigious university clashed earlier this year over another controversial event, to mark the hanging of terrorist Afzal Guru. Former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and a few others were charged with sedition over the on-campus event in which anti-national slogans were raised.
Last week, the university had ordered another inquiry into a similar effigy burning exercise by some students targeting the Gujarat government and 'gau-rakshaks' or cow vigilantes.