JNU: Freedom of speech Modi-fied in New Delhi, says article in Pak newspaper

Bengaluru, Feb 19: The action against students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi has seen a strong reaction from Pakistan.

In an article titled "Jawaharlal Nehru University row: Freedom of speech now Modi-fied in New Delhi" published in the Dawn newspaper, Toronto-based academic and the director of Regionomics.com Murtaza Haider said the fearless speech by Kanhaiya Kumar in the JNU students' union election last year "exposed Mr. Modi, BJP, and RSS and their attempts to silence dissent in India."

"Mr. Kumar and JNU have become unsuspecting characters in the BJP and RSS's campaign to radicalise Indian body politic, the same way General Zia's regime radicalised Pakistan," the article said.

The problem started last week when an event at the JNU campus to commemorate the hanging of Afzal Guru, convicted for the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament and hanged three years ago and the issue gradually snowballed into a big controversy and things worsened with police intervention.

And things particularly turned worse for Kumar. The article said: "Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student group aligned with RSS and the BJP, is leading the charge against Mr. Kumar. Citing 'a betrayal of Mother India', ABVP student leaders, along with the BJP leadership, could be seen verbally assaulting Mr. Kumar on TV talk shows.

When Mr. Kumar was brought to court on Wednesday, a large group of men outside the court, who appeared to be lawyers, attacked him, as anger over a case that has sparked mass protests boiled over."

Oneindia News