JOIN USThe fire of protests against arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar spread to Jadhavpur University (JU) in faraway Kolkata late on Tuesday.
Students’ unions, however, distanced themselves from invoking Afzal Guru in their slogans as BJP-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad demanded arrest of “anti-national” elements.
Jadhavpur, which joined nationwide protests with a torch rally on Tuesday evening, continued the agitation throughout Wednesday.
As ABVP and the state BJP claimed that some students raised slogans to condemn the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, besides demanding independence for Kashmir and Manipur, the Home Ministry asked the state government for a detailed report on Tuesday’s rally.
The official communication, sent to Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee and Principal Secretary Moloy Kumar De, asked the state government to compile a comprehensive report with the circumstances leading to protests at JU and issues raised in the rally.
Sources said some people did raise slogans protesting against Guru’s 2013 hanging and the 2004 encounter of Ishrat Jahan.