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Hardik Patel extends support to JNU students' stir

Last Updated 22 November 2019, 13:55 IST

Even as a government-appointed high-powered committee held another round of talks with the JNU students by visiting the campus, Patidar community leader from Gujarat Hardik Patel on Friday extended his support to the students' protest against hostel fee hike and other changes in the hostel rules.

Hardik also appealed to people from all sections to come out in support of the JNU students, saying they have been “struggling” and facing police batons on the streets, not for themselves, but for the children of the common man “despite a campaign unleashed to brand them as anti-nationals.”

“Youth are being beaten up in the name of nationalism. A conspiracy to finish JNU is continuing since 2014 so that those coming from economically weaker and underprivileged sections in Hindi speaking states do not get access to good education,” he said in a message, “The government does not want an educational institution like JNU where students get education with free ideas, and hold that which is right as right, and wrong as wrong”.

He alleged that the country's youth were being “misguided” in the name of religion and nationalism.

“Those with anti-education ideology know well that youth in India have an inadequate understanding of politics and hence they can be misguided in the name of religion and nationalism, he added.

As the politics over the JNU students protests deepened further, the Rajya Sabha witnessed an acrimonious spar between the BJP and Left party members during Zero Hour.

While CPM member K K Ragesh, raising the issue in the Upper House, sought a judicial probe into police action against the JNU students, BJP's Prabhat Jha raised the issue of "defacement" of a yet-to-be-unveiled statue of Swami Vivekananda on the JNU campus.

Meanwhile, Opposition party members in Bihar staged a protest on the premises of the state Legislative Assembly on the first day of Winter Session against the recent police crackdown on JNU students.

Holding the protest, legislators of the RJD, the Congress and CPI-ML also demanded resignation and an apology from Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi for his remarks against the JNU students who are protesting against the hostel fee hike and other issues.

The high-powered committee, set up by the Union government, held another round of talks with the students by visiting the campus on Friday evening.

The meeting was on, at the time of filing this report.

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(Published 22 November 2019, 13:46 IST)

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