Reported derogatory sloganeering against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on Monday evening has sparked sharp political reactions across parties.
Reported derogatory sloganeering against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on Monday evening has sparked sharp political reactions. The slogans were raised hours after the Supreme Court rejected bail pleas of former JNU students Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. Left-wing student groups staged protests on campus, raising sharp anti-government slogans near the popular “Guerilla Dhaba”.
According to reports, around 30 to 40 students, affiliated with left-leaning outfits such as the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) and All India Students’ Association (AISA), participated in the protest. Slogans like “Modi-Shah ki kabar khudegi JNU ki dharti par” echoed across the campus, alongside chants targeting Adani and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
BJP strongly reacts
Reacting sharply, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slammed the protesters, branding them part of the “tukde ecosystem”.
"These slogans chanted by Tukde ecosystem in JNU after Sharjeel Umar denied bail. This is an anti-India bunch of Urban Naxals. But it’s not just them..," Poonawalla said in an X post. He further accused opposition leaders, including Congress’s Prithviraj Chavan and CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat, of backing Khalid and Imam.
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BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari also launched a scathing attack on the demonstrators, calling them “Urban Naxals”.
"Urban Naxals in support of anti-national Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam protested late night in JNU outside Sabarmati Hostel. This is not protest, this appropriation of anti-India thought! Intellectual terrorists can be academics, doctors, or engineers," Bhandari said.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, "JNU has become the office of the 'Tukde-Tukde Gang' and people with anti-national mindsets like Rahul Gandhi, whether they belong to the RJD, TMC, or the Left parties. They shouldn't forget that this is India, this is Narendra Modi's India of the 21st century. Vivekananda said that saffron will prevail... I want to tell the 'Tukde-Tukde Gang' that those who support people like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who harboured pro-Pakistan sentiments and talked about separating the Chicken's Neck corridor, are traitors."
Another Delhi Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, strongly condemned the sloganeering. He said, “If there will be protests in this country, even against the Supreme Court’s rulings, then what is left? These people have no regard for the country, the constitution, or the law.” He also alleged political backing to those protesting.
SC denies bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam in 2020 Delhi riots case; 5 others get relief
The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in a case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots, while granting bail to five other accused, observing that the two stand on a "qualitatively different footing" in terms of prosecution and evidence.
The apex court granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad, noting that their culpability, if any, appeared to be limited in nature. However, it declined to extend similar relief to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.
