advertisement
Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung said on Monday, he disfavoured action against students for alleged anti-national slogan shouting in JNU campus and suggested that instead they should be engaged in dialogue.
He also said that police “is invited only in cases of acute arson, not when there is sloganeering”.
Jung told India Today TV channel that while he would not encourage anti-nationalism, he would also not take action against students for mere slogan shouting. “I would feel sorry for them,” he said.
Jung, who had served as the VC of Jamia Millia Islamia university before taking over as the Delhi LG, said the controversy over the February 9 JNU event may have happened as the varsity had a “new Vice Chancellor”.
On calls for “azaadi” in Kashmir and “Pakistan zindabad” slogans, he said:
On the debate over raising of slogans such as ‘Bharat Mata Ki jai’, Jung said no one can be “forced” to say anything.
Jung said there was a difference between raising slogans hailing the motherland and those praising the almighty, including ‘Allah’.
He said he would not “eat beef in this country” but would not insist on bans like that on beef even as he added that there was a need to “ignore” fringe elements.
However, Jung said he would be “very uncomfortable” with a person who shouts anti-India slogans. In criticising the nation, one needs to be “careful in public”, he said.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)