On February 14, Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the media about the JNU controversy.
He said the protests at JNU in support of Afzal Guru, who was hanged three years ago, had the backing of Hafiz Saeed, the chief of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Home Minister's comments came after the Delhi Police warned students of punishment for anti-national activities and cited, as an example,
a tweet that it seemed to believe was put out by Hafiz Sayeed.
The tweet had been doing the rounds on social media with some pointing out that it seemed to be posted from an imposter account.
That proved to be correct. And the Home Ministry then offered an awkward explanation claiming that the Lashkar link was based on "
inputs from different agencies".
This was not an isolated example of "huh?" remarks on JNU from the ruling party.
For example, consider these statements on TV debates in the last one week by BJP spokespersons, many of whom showed a rare display of what can generously be called their emotional side.
Sudhanshu Trivedi on a debate on Times Now said Leftists cannot be called Indians and they are anti-nationalists. In another debate on Times Now, Sambit Patra asked co-panelists, the journalist Saba Naqvi, and Waris Pathan, the spokesperson for Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, to chant "Bharat Mata ki jai" and prove their patriotism to the motherland.
On Monday, Ashok Kumar Sharma, a top leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, a right-wing party, issued a statement saying "Nathuram Godse was a thinker, philosopher, learned writer and a great patriot. He was, he is and he will remain so". Why Patra and his party refused to slap sedition charges on him or ask them to chant the glory of Bharat Mata is anybody's guess.
Last week, on another TV debate on NDTV India which had this journalist on the panel, ABVP's Sourav Sharma, joint secretary of the JNUSU, in complete disrespect to the
guru shishya parampara advocated by Education Minister Smriti Irani, lashed out at his Professor, Mridula Mukherjee, calling her an anti-national sympathizer. To which Professor Mukherjee responded that like a good teacher, she could only reprimand and forgive her student who seemed to be misled.
In Delhi, BJP state legislator OP Sharma, who has in the past made sexist comments about Alka Lamba of the Aam Aadmi Party, also flaunted his "patriotism" by thrashing a Left activist outside a Delhi court which was to hear the case of the arrested JNU student, Kanhaiya Kumar. This amidst lawyers attacking journalists in full view of the Delhi Police who stood there as mute spectators. Note the Delhi unit of the BJP has supported Sharma, and Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi has seconded the politician who admits that he beat up the activist, but that he didn't start it. In an interview today, Sharma said that he was not an absconder and that Bassi could have arrested him.
A chilling account by Sonal Mehrotra, a journalist with NDTV, says, "They looked at me and said, 'Delete the video or you are next'. Then, 'Delete the video or we will break your phone and break your bones...Behind those 15 angry goons stood 4-5 cops. I asked them to intervene but they simply left the courtroom.'" Delhi police commissioner who went hunting tweets for any anti national sentiments that could have risen in favor of JNU is yet to make any arrests.
The above-mentioned details are all facts, none have been quoted from the famous Samuel Taylor poem Kubla Khan, which gives details of an imaginary world. Any resemblance of the current state of affairs to the climax scene of Kundan Shah's "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron", a satirical comedy is purely coincidental and sad.
Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNU students' union president, addressed a gathering of students on the JNU campus last Thursday following which he was arrested on the charge of sedition for taking part in a march earlier where alleged anti-India slogans were raised. One is yet to see any footage of Kanhaiya making pro-Pakistan statements but here is an excerpt from his speech: "The Constitution and Babasahab Ambedkar talk about corrective measures. The same Babasahab Ambedkar talks about abolishing capital punishment. The same Babasahab Ambedkar talks about freedom of expression.
And we want to uphold the Constitution, we want to uphold our right."
Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee whose word on judicial matters is considered sacrosanct has termed the charges of sedition against JNU students deplorable. In an investigation I covered in 2010, from the Naxal-infested Gadchiroli area of Maharashtra, the Congress-led regime had arrested students under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) for possessing literature on Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh.
When Narendra Modi took office as Prime Minister in May 2014, he promised the youth of the country that he would steer this country towards greater heights and promised them his unflinching support; the PM has quoted Rabindranath Tagore and Ambedkar extensively in most of his speeches, and considers them his inspiration.
The youth of this country watched as he teared up when talking of Dalit student Rohith Vemula who committed suicide last month after a Hyderabad university suspended him amid allegations by a union minister of anti-national activities on campus. Rohith's main offense was that the ABVP had accused him of assaulting its leader. Rohith and his friends had said they protested the hooliganism of ABVP workers who vandalized the screening of a film on Muzaffarnagar.
Sounds familiar?
As news of JNU students making pro-Pakistan remarks emerged, most Left liberal intellectuals, academics, activists condemned it in the harshest words. Nobody has offered a word of appreciation for these sentiments despite attempts to legitimize them under the garb of free speech. But where is the evidence of Kanhaiya Kumar's seditious behaviour?
Is the foundation of the Indian republic so weak and sensitive that it was shaken by the alleged statements of a few students?
Dear Prime Minister, the youth of this country are waiting for you to voice your sentiments when the spokespersons of your party questions equate dissent and debate on campuses as anti-national. The esteemed members of your party have in the past asked national icons to move to Pakistan - none of them were labeled seditious by civil society or the media.
Dear Smriti Irani, isn't it cringe-worthy when your party members find one university after another to be dens of anti-national activities isn't it disturbing to have your party spokesperson demand an individual on a debate prove his patriotism by chanting "Vande Mataram"?
There is a reason why so many people are objecting to this government's escalating confrontations with students.
Who is insulting our youth - and our country?
(Rana Ayyub is an award-winning investigative journalist and political writer. She is working on a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be published this year.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.