NEW DELHI, Mar 26:
Both the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and JNU events were “ultra-Left movements” also involving a small section of “jehadis”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley contended today.
In the case of JNU, the predominant section of those involved in the agitation was “ultra-Left” barring a small section of “jehadis”, who had their faces masked during a demonstration on the campus on Feb 9 in which anti-national slogans were raised, he said.
The name of Dr B R Ambedkar was “unfairly used” in the case of HCU where protests erupted after the suicide by a research scholar Rohith Vemula, Jaitley said during an interaction with PTI journalists here.
He drew satisfaction from the fact that religious and minority groups and their leaders across the country had not participated in the debate set off by the events in the two universities.
“The moderate Left and the Congress had got trapped into what was otherwise a movement of the ultra-Left,” the minister said, adding that the BJP had therefore taken it as an ideological challenge.
The BJP had won the first round of this “ideological debate” in the sense that everybody had to come at least “close to the position we were taking”.
Asked if he expected more rounds in the debate, the BJP leader said that it was not a battle his party had started. “We are not raising the debate to this extent (of further rounds) but if somebody against starts the whole idea, then the debate will certainly carry on.”
When asked if the BJP was reaping political dividends by raising the nationalism debate, Jaitley said, “I am not looking for a dividend. This was an ideological positioning and we have made our point. On this battle I don’t think we can lose.”
Jaitley said they took it as an ideological challenge and “whether for posturing or otherwise, as the core debate proceeded….At least they were pushed into this position (to say Jai Hind instead of Bharat Mata Ki Jai). I am quite happy and satisfied that they were pushed into this position.”
Answering questions, Jaitley saw no contradiction between the government’s agenda of development and the debate over nationalism. “I think there is a section in this country, however small, which does not find this discourse very fascinating. So it wants to divert the issue.
“It is not compulsory in this country to raise a slogan (of Bharat Mata ki Jai). But it became an issue only when somebody said I take objection and I will not raise it,” he said in an apparent reference to a declaration made by Majlis MP Asaduddin Owaisi. (PTI)
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