After controversial slogans, pro Afzal Guru posters found at Jadavpur University
Protesting against the Centre's handling of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) row, few students of JU on Tuesday organized a torch rally in Kolkata from where slogans in favour of Afzal Guru and separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani were raised.
Besides attacking the BJP government and RSS, few protesters shouted pro Afzal and Geelani slogans, including "Afzal bole azadi", "Geelani bole azadi", "Kashmir mange azadi, Manipur vi mange azadi" and "Chhinke lenge azadi", from the rally here, which triggered a controversy.
According to sources, the Home Ministry has sought reports regarding the rally from the state government.
Day after the incident, few controversial posters in favour of freedom in Kashmir, Manipur and Nagaland and against the hanging of Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon were spotted at JU campus. These posters were published by an organization who called themselves Radical.
All students' unions of JU claimed that they neither had involvement with these posters nor had any connection with this organization.
Meanwhile, shouting nationalist slogans and holding India's national flag, few students held a rally at the JU campus on Wednesday evening and torn few anti-national posters.
Calling the anti-national slogans from JU students' rally 'an unwanted incident', JU Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das said, "We all want our university campus should be a place of dialogue in a democratic way. All can express their views here. We will never interfere into their freedom of speech."
"If any fringe element shouted anti-Indian and separatism slogans, Jadavpur University does not support that. We think that very few students are involved in this case. After identifying, we will discuss with them to avoid such unwanted incidents in future. I will not report against it to the police," Das added.
However, condemning the JNU and JU incidents, the BJP and the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) held protest march in Kolkata on Wednesday.
BJP's national secretary Rahul Sinha said, "If anyone tries to divide India into parts, they will be beaten badly."
Meanwhile, left student and youth organizations, including SFI and DYFI, held a solidarity rally with JNU in the city.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
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