Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the "anti-national" protests organised by Jawaharlal Nehru University students were supported by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. Singh said that the nation must also accept this unfortunate reality. "Never should have something been done which puts a question mark over the country's sovereignty and integrity. On such occasions, the entire country should be speaking in one voice. I would also appeal [to] all political parties not to view such episodes through the prism of political gains and losses," Singh told reporters.
The Union minister's comments came a day after the Delhi Police posted the following message on Twitter:
The Twitter account by the name of Hafiz Muhamad Saeed has since been deleted.
The Delhi Police has demanded that the case related to the recent student protests at the university be transferred to the Special Cell or the National Investigation Agency. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Premnath said in a letter to the top brass that the link between the students and parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru, whose hanging students were protesting, needs to be looked into.
Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has already submitted a report on the JNU case to the home minister and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. Officials said the subject of the transfer of the case was discussed as well, The Indian Express reported. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma filed a complaint against unknown people in Delhi's Vasant Vihar Police Station over an alleged attack on him by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad members when he visited JNU on Saturday.
The Delhi Police had arrested JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday under sedition charges, which drew criticism from leaders, including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter after Left party leaders met with him and demanded that the “authenticity” of evidence produced against Kumar be proved. Police had detained, and later released, seven more students on Saturday for holding a protest against Kumar’s arrest. JNU students have announced they will hold a strike on Monday.
On the anniversary of Guru’s hanging last week, a group of JNU students had held a protest meeting, for which they had put up posters inviting people to join them in solidarity with the “struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self determination”.
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