Social activist Swami Agnivesh on Wednesday described as ‘totally wrong’ the arrest of the students’ union president of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Kanhaiya Kumar, and slapping of sedition charges against him, ahead of the inquiry report.
Addressing a convention of the Popular Front of India (PFI) on Wednesday, Agnivesh said that under HRD Minister Smriti Irani, the Bharatiya Janata Party was playing dirty politics.
Questioning why the Vice-Chancellor of JNU had failed to set up an inquiry into the incident and prevent the police from entering the campus till the probe was completed, he said such “weak” Vice-Chancellors were being appointed under Ms Irani to control universities. In their bid to push Hindutva supremacy, the RSS and BJP are asking Muslims to prove their nationalism time and again, said Agnivesh.
“Muslims are not second rate citizens; they are equal partners in the country’s development,” he asserted.
As for the charge of raising anti-national slogans, he condemned the raising of such slogans on JNU campus but said a proper investigation should be carried out and action taken. Agnivesh reiterated his charge that the RSS and BJP were using ABVP to defame JNU.
RSS and BJP using ABVP to defame JNU
Swami Agnivesh
