Rijiju denies targeting Gurmehar

Facing criticism over his tweets on Delhi University student Gurmehar Kaur, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has posted a video of a soldier attacking “sympathisers” of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and critics of surgical strikes against Pakistan.

However, he said he was not aware of rape threats to Gurmehar when he posted a comment criticising the Army martyr’s daughter for her stand. Gurmehar had posted tweets against Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad following violence at Ramjas College on February 22.

Rijiju had earlier attracted criticism after he tweeted, “Who’s polluting this young girl’s mind? A strong Arm Force prevents a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded.”

The comments came after a video posted by Gurmehar last April was circulated on social media, showing her with a placard reading, “Pakistan didn’t kill my father, war did.” Her father, an Army officer, was killed in Kashmir in 1999.

As he faced sharp comments over his statements, Rijiju tweeted a 1:46-minute video of a speech by soldier Shriram Gorde, who is presently posted in Gujarat's Jamnagar. It was shot on December 28, 2016 during a function.

“We fight against terrorism, Maoists to keep our country safe. But now it looks like the biggest threat is from those who live in this country but give slogans of Bharat murdabad. We don't feel sad to see Afzal Guru being hanged,” he said in the speech.

Posting the video, Kiren Rijiju commented, “Pain runs deeper than the ocean. Very sad that our jawans are forced to speak with heavy heart.” Separately, Rijiju said he was not targeting Gurmehar, but “leftists who support Afzal Guru” were misleading her.

The minister said the leftists supported China during the 1962 war and his village in Arunachal Pradesh was under Chinese control for around a month.