JNU fiasco: Pakistan backs arrested Kashmiri students, says report

New Delhi, Feb 19: Pakistan on Thursday said it is concerned over the arrest of Kashmiri students who are related to a controversial debate at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which has snowballed into a major controversy, a Mail Today report said.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Nafees Zakria said the people of Kashmir never accepted the 'unfair' trial of Afzal Guru, who was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack case and hanged three years ago, the report said.

Pakistan's remark added fuel to the heated political atmosphere in the country. The Congress hit out at the NDA government over the Pakistani remark, saying its "inept handling" of the university issue gave the neighbouring country to embarras India, the report added.

"We are against any anti-national slogans. But the Modi government mishandled the issue and this provided Pakistan an opportunity to exploit the situation," the Mail Todat report quoted Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal as saying. He said the JNU crisis was blown out of proportion.
The BJP, on the other hand, said Pakistan's support to Guru was a 'submission of guilt' for a series of attacks in India, ranging from that against Parliament in 2001 to this year's attack at the Pathankot airbase.

" Their (Pakistan) support for Afzal Guru is an unequivocal admission on their part and might be a self goal in their enthusiasm to meddle in India's internal affairs such as JNU," the report quoted BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli.

He also said "concerned agencies" would explore all angles when asked whether the JNU incident would create an opportunity for outsiders to fish in troubled waters.

Oneindia News