Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the JNU stir received support from Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and this needs to be understood by the nation even as he asked political parties not to view such protests through the prism of political gains or losses.
"The incident at JNU has received support from Hafiz Saeed. This is a truth that the nation needs to understand," Singh said, adding, "What has happened is very unfortunate."
"Never should have something been done which puts a question mark over the country's sovereignty and integrity. On such occasions, the entire country should be speaking in one voice. I would also appeal all political parties not to view such episodes through the prism of political gains and losses," Singh told repor
Responding to questions on the arrest of JNU Student's Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and allegations that he may have been falsely implicated, the Home Minister said, "We should allow the investigation to take place unhindered. The police must have acted on the basis of some evidence."
His comments came two days after a series of tweets, by an account called Hafeez Saeed JUD, had appeared under a hashtag asking Pakistanis to support the agitation in JNU.
As soon as the HM made the statement, many on social media, including Congress supporters asked if the statement was based on the tweet. Many pointed out the JuD chief was not on Twitter and his account had been suspended in 2010.
Hafiz Saeed's original a/c was suspended in 2010. Who is @HMOIndia trying to fool w bizarre remarks? #RajnathGoofsUp https://t.co/9JRnAnHy9S
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) February 14, 2016
Some sections of the media too raised doubts over the HM’s statement.
A fake Twitter handle of Hafiz Saeed being cited and then used by home minister? Banana republic or what?? Some rationality please.
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 14, 2016
Was Home Minister comment on Hafiz Saeed link to #JNU protests based on a fake Twitter account? This would be funny if it werent so serious
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) February 14, 2016
“The Home Minister must go public with the evidence collected that enabled him to level this charge against the #JNU students. Cracking down on students & using #HafizSaeed to justify the crackdown is a new low, even for this NDA government. #JNUCrackdown.” Omar Abdullah
“The Union Home Minister has made a very serious allegation about terrorists 'backing' JNU protests. We hope that he has concrete proof. When we met the Home Minister yesterday, he never mentioned Hafiz Saeed to us but only harped on the slogans being raised at the protests. This seems to be a case of shifting goalposts with the sole design of tarnishing JNU.” Sitaram Yechury.
With many asking on what basis the Home Minister made the statement and if it was based on a fake account’s tweet and #RajnathGoofsUp trending on social media, the ministry issued a rebuttal in the evening. According to the ministry, the HM’s statement Home was based ‘on consolidated input from security agencies’.
But the question lingers as one of the security agencies probing the case, the Delhi police, seems to have taken the fake Saeed account seriously and issued an alert based on the tweet.
"This is to alert and sensitise the student community in JNU and across the country. Do not get carried away by such seditious anti-national rhetoric. Abetment of any kind of anti-national activity is a punishable offence.”
