BJP president Amit Shah on Monday flayed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for supporting JNU students, asking whether he had lent his voice to the separatists.
Rahul Gandhi must apologise for igniting "anti-national activities" at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Shah told reporters here and wondered if the Congress leader had "lent his voice to the separatists".
JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested for allegedly raising anti-national slogans during a meeting on the campus on February 9. Kumar has denied the charge.
"No citizen can accept that a terrorist is favoured and anti-India slogans raised at a prestigious university," Shah said.
"But the kind of statements Rahul Gandhi and his party colleagues have delivered at the campus proves there is no place for national interest in their thinking."
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had succeeded in controlling "anti-national sentiments in Kashmir" but the Congress "is igniting unfortunate anti-national activities at the JNU".
"I demand an answer from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi over the issue. I also demand Rahul Gandhi to apologise to the nation for his acts," the BJP president said.
"I want to ask him if he has joined hands with separatists?" Shah asked.
The JNU has been on the boil over the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges after anti-national slogans were raised at a meeting on the campus to mark the anniversaries of the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat.
Shah said Rahul Gandhi was not able to "differentiate between anti-national and pro-national activity".
"Is this the definition of nationalism for Rahul Gandhi? By terming anti-national activities as student revolution and describing (the) action against anti-nationals as (an) attack on the freedom of speech and expression, he has shown insensitivity towards the country's unity.
"I want to ask Rahul Gandhi: Had it been in national interest if the government didn't act and remained silent? Are you not encouraging anti-national forces by staging support in their protest?"
