New Delhi, Oct. 12: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said it was "investigating" a Ravan dahan that burnt the images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah yesterday.
The JNU drive sets up a test for Prime Minister Modi on whether he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Manmohan Singh and "forgive" overzealous students.
Students of the Congress-backed NSUI are said to have burned the effigies of Modi, Shah and other Sangh-associated leaders on a day the images of Ravan, his brother Kumbhkaran and his son Meghnad were burnt in northern India.
Today, JNU vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar tweeted: "The effigy burning incident at JNU was brought to our notice. We are investigating the matter and examining all relevant information."
NSUI spokesperson Sunny Dhiman, who led the immolation along with acting unit president Anil Meena, told this paper: "We celebrated the victory of good over evil. The effigies were burnt to protest the wrong practices of cow vigilantism and killing of Dalits being patronised by this government."
"The VC has established a showcause reign of terror against democratic protests. When society is being made regressive, bad people in government will be criticised. We chose Vijayadashami as it was the day Ambedkar accepted Buddhism and also the day the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was founded," Dhiman said.
JNUSU is protesting tomorrow for the right to protest.
Effigy burning is a regular feature in JNU, where images of the government and ruling party of the day are burnt during protests against most controversial government decisions. No permission is sought for effigy burning at the Sabarmati Bhawan as long as loudspeakers are not used during the programme.
However, after pages of the Manusmriti were burned by rebels of the Sangh-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in March, students have started receiving showcause notices.
Recently, former JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) general secretary Rama Naga and three others were served notices after they burnt effigies of gau rakshaks and the Gujarat government.
This is the first time a VC has tweeted on the subject. He had not responded to queries when this report was filed.
JNU ABVP president Alok Singh said: "Our objection is not just the immolation but the day on which it was done, calling the PM Ravan. It shows the political bankruptcy of Rahul Gandhi's followers who is speaking the same language of dalali against the PM."
In 2005, far-Left groups had shown black flags to Manmohan when he came to address the varsity's annual day celebrations.
In his speech, Manmohan had said: "Every member of a university community, if he or she wishes to aspire to be worthy of the university, must accept the truth of Voltaire's classic statement. Voltaire proclaimed 'I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it'. That idea must be the corner stone of a liberal institution."
Sandeep Singh, who led the protest then and went on to become JNUSU president, told this paper: "There were several issues, including his speech in Oxford, which he called the British Raj beneficial, the raising of the Sardar Sarovar dam and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. We were immediately beaten up by NSUI, ABVP and plainclothes cops. The then VC, B.B. Bhattacharya, asked us to apologise, which we refused to. He let us off with a warning."
Bhattacharya, now retired, told The Telegraph: "Manmohan Singh came and told me 'please be lenient, Sir'. I said I have to at least warn them... It is unfortunate that students have burnt the PM's effigy, but the problem today is that lines of communication with students have broken down."
Dhananjay Tripathi, who was JNUSU president back then, said: "The regime was definitely not as vengeful as it is today. During Vajpayee's time, there was an open air play in JNU on him that was scathing. There wasn't even an inquiry for it."
