Jamia Millia Islamia invites PM for its convocation; yet to get his nod

New Delhi, Nov 26: Jamia Millia Islamia has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the chief guest at its annual convocation this year. The varsity has, however, not received any confirmation from the PMO regarding the same.

"We are looking forward to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi at our university. We had extended an invitation to him earlier this month to be the chief guest at our annual convocation. We have not received any communication from the PMO so far," the university spokesman Mukesh Ranjan said.

Last year, President Pranab Mukherjee was the chief guest at the convocation of the university, which was founded in 1920 and became a central university in 1988.

The invitation assumes significance as Modi, who has not visited the university so far, had attacked Jamia in 2008 after the Batla House encounter in September that year.

Addressing a gathering in Gujarat, he had said, "There is a university in Delhi called Jamia Millia Islamia. It has publicly announced that it will foot the legal fee of terrorists involved in act. Go drown yourself. This Jamia Millia is being run on government money and it is daring to spend money on lawyers to get terrorists out of jail. When will this vote bank politics end?"

Modi's comments had come following a statement by the then Jamia VC Mushirul Hasan that the university would offer legal aid to two of its students arrested for their suspected involvement in terror activities.

PTI