Jinnah portrait at AMU sparks row

A portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Student Union's hall has triggered a row after the local BJP MP, Satish Gautam, sought its removal from the university.

Gautam sent a letter to AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor asking him to explain the rationale behind putting up Jinnah's portrait and asked him to reveal where else in the university Jinnah's portraits have been put up.

A senior AMU official clarified that the vice chancellor had received a letter from Gautam but made it clear that the university would not interfere in the working of the students union.

"It is up to the students union to decide whose portrait it wants inside the hall," the official said.

A Union leader said the MP should have written to the president of the union and not the vice chancellor.

The controversy comes close on the heels of a proposal made to the university by a Muslim RSS activist asking for "shakhas" to be held inside the campus.