Don't dub JNU a terrorist hub, Kejriwal tells Modi

New Delhi, Feb 16: Urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to use nationalism to create fear psychosis, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said it was wrong to dub the JNU as "a terrorist centre".

In an open letter, Kejriwal also urged Modi to act against "lumpen and anarchist elements" like Delhi BJP legislator O.P. Sharma who was filmed attacking a CPI activist outside a court here on Monday.

Kejriwal said he denounced the reported anti-India slogans raised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, and added that "it is not correct to convert nationalism into a device for creating a fear psychosis by using constitutional institutions to run them according to whims and fancies.

"It is extremely dangerous that the JNU incident is being portrayed to show this institution as a terrorist centre.

"The JNU and its students have achieved fame at the international level due to its high academic standards and the hard work of its students.

"It is completely wrong to brand such a prestigious institution as a centre of terrorists," he said.

Kejriwal's letter follows the arrest on February 12 of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, on sedition charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans at a meeting in the campus on Kashmir.

On Monday, before he was to be produced at the Patiala House Court, some lawyers attacked journalists and JNU students in the complex. Sharma, one of the three BJP legislators in Delhi, was filmed chasing and attacking a CPI activist on a road near the court.

Kejriwal demanded "immediate action" against Sharma "to give a clear signal that such kind of activities will not be tolerated. He is an MLA of BJP, and it (BJP) must also take action against him.

"I feel that even if you once call this MLA and scold him, he will not dare to repeat his actions again in life. If that is not done, then such elements feel they have the complete support of the central government."

The Aam Aadmi Party leader also demanded the immediate release of innocents arrested in JNU and an end to political interference in JNU and other academic institutions.

IANS