West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday described the violence in the Jawaharlal National University (JNU) on Sunday as a “fascist surgical strike” and urged students to “unite and fight together against the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre”.
The attack was a “dangerous planned attack on democracy”, she said. “They are torturing the professors also. It is disturbing not only for me but for all.” Such a development had never occurred in the country. “While they send the goons of the BJP, they kept the police inactive.” As someone who started her political life as a student leader, she understood the issues relating to student politics, the Trinamool Congress chairperson told journalists.
As it happened: Masked goons strike terror in JNU, none arrested
“In a democracy, governments will come and go but they will have to work under the Constitution. One does not have the right to do whatever they think only because they have majority,” she noted.
On Sunday night, Ms. Banerjee condemned the “brutality unleashed against students/ teachers in JNU”. A Trinamool Congress delegation, led by former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, was going to Delhi to show solidarity with the JNU, she said.
BJP hits back at CM
Meanwhile, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh questioned Ms. Banerjee’s silence when Union Minister Babul Supriyo was heckled at the Jadavpur University or when State Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar faced protests at the varsity.
“The crocodile tears shed by Ms. Banerjee [on JNU violence] make us suspicious that on whose side she is, those who are against the country,” he asked.
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