'Tukde-tukde gang' receiving foreign funding, says union minister Kiren Rijiju

Apparently referring to the ongoing agitation against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act at several universities in the country, union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that those who wanted to divide the country are receiving funds from foreign countries.

''The 'tukde-tukde gang' (a term used by the BJP for JNU students) is receiving foreign funding,'' Rijiju said without elaborating while speaking at a youth festival here.

He said that the number of students and others, who had been opposing the CAA, were ''very small''. ''These people (agitators) have support from the students of some select universities and film personalities...they are using social media as a platform to fulfil their objectives,'' the minister said.

He said that those opposing the CAA, only wanted to ''tarnish the image of the country with the help of some foreign forces'' and a majority of educational institutions in the country were not with them.

The minister appealed to the youths not to ''fall prey'' to the designs of the ''anti-national'' forces and work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the country great again.

''Such forces will not succeed in their efforts to divide the country,'' he added.

Rijiju's remarks came in the wake of the ongoing agitation against the CAA at several top universities like JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and the AMU, Aligarh, in the country and the support extended to the protesters by some leading film personalities, including Deepika Padukone and others.