Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha over the JNU row and the controversy over Hyderabad Central University research scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, TDP member Ravindra Babu said Jawaharlal Nehru University had a culture of debate and never any serious acrimonious incident occurred there.
"But an unnecessary controversy has erupted there and sedition charges invoked against some students. I think it is too harsh a measure," he said.
He instead favoured slapping sedition charge against people who deserved such treatment.
Babu said the students are "innocent" and need to be "corrected". "We cannot do it by punishing them. By punishing them we will make them hardcore criminals. Let us not do that," he said.
"We are very proud of all our institutions. There has always been unity in diversity. If anybody who criticises India is labelled as anti-national, then Ambedkar also needs to be labelled as anti-national because he burnt 'Manusmrti' in public," Babu said.