Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Breaking his silence after two days of the ongoing controversy over portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah decorating the walls of AMU student Union hall, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condemned the former as the one responsible for India’s partition.
On the other hand, students of the university continued indefinite protest on Thursday demanding action against right-wingers who had tried to trespass campus boundary on Wednesday.
Speaking on the issue and opposition to the presence of Jinnah’s portrait, CM Yogi said that a leader who was behind the partition of India could not be accorded honour and respect in the country.
“Jinnah ka samman Bharat ke andar nahi ho sakta hai. Vibhajan ka karan Jinnah hai. (Jinnah can’t be given respect in India. He is responsible for the partition).”
On the clashes between the university students and the right-wing activists on Wednesday and the unrest prevailing on AMU campus, the CM said that he had sought a report from the district administration and he expected it by Friday.
“On the basis of the report, action will be taken in the matter,” said the CM while talking to a few channels before leaving for Karnataka to join BJP campaign trail in the poll-bound state.
“AMU is a central university and the issue is sensitive so it should be probed thoroughly. Let me get a detailed report on the happenings from the university management and district administration, I shall take action,” he maintained.
On the other, an uneasy calm prevailed on AMU campus amid heavy security deployment on Thursday.
Hundreds of students gathered at Bab-e-Sayyad, the main gate and the site of Wednesday’s clashes, to continue their indefinite protest demanding legal action against the right wingers who tried to force their entry on campus demanding a removal of the portrait.
The student union has also given a call for suspension of classes on campus for the next five days.
It may be recalled that over a dozen students were left injured following violent clashes and subsequent police action on AMUSU members on Wednesday.
The AMUSU, in a statement, called Wednesday clashes a “deliberate and pre-planned” attempt to target former Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari who was present on the campus at the time of clashes.
Ansari was invited to AMU in order to confer life membership of the student union on him. However, in the melee, that event was also cancelled.
Moreover, AMUSU president, Maskoor Ahmad Usmani, who was also injured in police action, vowed to approach National Human Rights Commission with the help of secular organizations of the country if the state government would not do justice.
On the other, AMU Teachers Association (AMUTA) blamed the district police of breach of security on Wednesday when armed goons tried to enter the campus.
In an emergency meeting called on late Wednesday night, AMUTA demanded FIR against those who "masterminded Wednesday clashes.”
Meanwhile, an RSS activist Mohammad Aamir Rasheed, who had sought permission to hold a ‘shakha’ on AMU campus last week, announced a bounty of Rs 51,000, on Thursday, for the one who would take the portrait out of the AMU student union hall.
He also declared that anyone replacing Jinnah’s portrait with that of Shivaji, Vir Savarkar and RSS ideologue Dr Keshav Baliram Hegdewar, would be given Rs 1 lakh.
