BJP welcomes JNU students union president's arrest

BJP today welcomed the arrest of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar over an event in the university in which Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was allegedly hailed as a martyr and questioned the silence of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over the issue.
"On the one hand our soldiers are sacrificing their lives at the border and on the other hand, anti-India slogans are being raised in an institution like JNU and terrorists being hailed as martyrs. This is very unfortunate.
"BJP welcomes the arrest and hope that action will be taken against other accused too. There is a limit to everything," party national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Accusing Gandhi and other opposition leaders like Delhi and Bihar chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Nitish Kumar of doing politics over terrorism and naxalism in the name of freedom of expression, he questioned their silence over the "sensitive" issue.
"Congress party is the mentor of all such people and it should speak on the issue," he said.
The party also used the incident to take a dig at those who had returned their awards over 'intolerance' issue with Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman taking a jibe at them, wondering where they have gone now.

A JNU alumnus herself, Sitharaman said she was proud of it and the university had a culture of open debate but asserted that limits were crossed in this case. "Law will take its own course."

She also referred to the "racist" incident in Congress -ruled Karnataka where a Tanzanian woman was attacked by a crowd over a road accident unrelated to her as she hit out at those who had attacked BJP over intolerance.
"Why that battalion of people is not going to Karnataka to return their awards. Because Congress is in power there?" she wondered.
Contending that the Modi government was unfairly targeted, she also took a dig at the media.
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BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao deplored the
support to extremism and separatism in campuses and said it must be viewed seriously.

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Talking about the JNU incident in Pune, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that there is anger across the nation due to the incident and questioned Congress's silence over the issue.
"We (BJP) want to ask Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that the slogans which were shouted at JNU, what they have to say about it. Why are they silent about it for the last four days. If such slogans are shouted in a reputed college of the national capital and the Congress remains shut, what does it mean? Who is this silence supporting, they have to answer.

"Police has taken action and law will take its own course. But here too Congress and Communist remained silent. Arvind Kejriwal also does not say anything," he said.
Commenting on David Headleys's deposition that Ishrat Jahan was an LeT operative, Javadekar said that the former said this in front of the court and this was not the first time he had said that.
"This is not the first time. Eight years back, he had said this in front of NIA officials. Congress should answer why it did not allow Headley's statement which was recorded in front of NIA officials to come in front of court.

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Attacking Congress after it accused the government of curbing students' voice, Shrikant Sharma said it was unfortunate that the opposition party kept silence when "anti-India" slogans were raised in JNU but was now "protecting) the accused for political reasons.
"Congress is habitual in doing politics over issues like terrorism and sedition. Some people raised slogans saying that they will keep fighting till India was destroyed and Congress is trying to protect them. This is very unfortunate. There is nothing bigger than the country," he said, reacting to the Congress' charge.