JNU row: Supporting traitors is also treachery, says Ramdev

Ahmedabad, Feb 18: In a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his stand on the JNU row and police action against students, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Thursday said that friendship with country's "traitors" is equivalent to treachery.

Asking the government to identify the "real traitors" so that innocents are not punished, Ramdev appealed to all parties to rise above "vote-bank politics" for the sake of the country's unity.

"Friendship with country's traitors is also considered as treachery. In the eyes of law, supporting anti-national elements is also a crime," Ramdev told reporters when asked about Rahul's stand on the issue.

"In this situation, political parties should rise above the vote bank politics for the sake of country's unity and peace," he said.

On the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, he said, "We should not support those who are having a destructive mindset and are raising anti-India slogans in the name of freedom of expression."

"At the same time, it is the duty of the government to identify and punish real anti-national elements so that innocent people are spared," he said.

Hitting out at the government, Rahul Gandhi had said the JNU row and the violence in Patiala House court are a "blot" on India's image and asserted that nationalism runs in his blood.

He also said that RSS was trying to impose its "flawed" and "dead" ideology on students of the country but his party will not allow it. Gandhi also submitted a memorandum in this regard to President Pranab Mukherjee today.

PTI