Jyotiraditya lambasts Government for muzzling dissent

Initiating the debate on the issue of suicide by Hyderabad university student Rohith Vemula and hosting anti-national programme feting Afzal Guru in JNU campus, the Guna MP of Congress Jyotiraditya Scindia accused the BJP government of trying to impose its saffron ideology and implement anti-Dalit agenda universities across India. 

“The Prime Minister who is quite Twitter savvy kept silent on Rohith episode and broke his silence only after five days,” he said, arguing it was not just the issue of Dalits, but the manner the ruling party was trying to straitjacket all with its ideology. 

Attacking the BJP-led government for its “siege” of JNU, the Congress MP said, “No one is siding with those who raised slogans against India. It must be condemned in no uncertain terms...” 

This brought the ruling party members on their feet, questioning Mr Scindia that why his party leader Rahul Gandhi had rushed to JNU campus and declared his support to those who raised anti-India slogans calling for break-up of India. 

Amid disruptions, Mr Scindia continued, “But because of those eight students the university of 8,000 students should not be maligned and called anti-national.” 

Earlier in the day, Congress gave a notice for adjournment motion on the issue on the first working day in the Budget session. Party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Jyotiraditya Scindia and KC Venugopal gave the notice for the motion. Soon after Question Hour, Mahajan said the House would take up a short duration discussion on the functioning of universities in the country, including incidents at JNU and Hyderabad University, in the afternoon. 

This led to protests by other Opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress, CPI (M), CPI, BJD and TRS, who said that Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had himself proposed on Tuesday in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting that the discussion should be held on February 25 after presentation of the Railway Budget. 

They wanted to know as to what had happened that prompted such a drastic change. Kharge said it would be good if the matter is taken up immediately as the “issue is very important and discussions are going on everywhere”.