Union Minister for Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh. (Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)After Union Minister Babul Supriyo was heckled by a section of students at the Jadavpur University, this time Union Minister Jitender Singh faced protests by the Left-backed student leaders at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
The JNU had organised a talk on "Abrogation of Article 370: Peace, Stability and Development in J&K and Ladakh" at Convention Centre. Singh, a senior leader from J&K, was invited to deliver the lecture.
This was opposed by the Left wing students. They raised slogans like "Kashmir hai Kashmiriyo ka, Hindustan ki jangir nahi," (Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris and is not the property of India).
To counter that RSS-affiliated Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists staged their own protest and raised slogans like "Kashmir se KanyaKumari, Bharat Mata ek hamari," (From Kashmir to KanyaKumari, India is one).
However, amid the exchange of slogans, students from both sides alleged violence by others.
At the end of event, JNU Vice-Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh tweeted, "Overwhelming response to the talk on "Abrogation of Article 370" by Jitendra Singh is a clear indication that JNU community supports "one nation, one Constitution" in one voice. Protest by a handful is a clear indication that freedom of expression is valued in our country."
In September, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo faced a protest at Jadavpur University in Kolkata by Left students during which he was manhandled too.
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
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