JNU-Afzal Guru row: Help us focus on our main objective without any interference, urges VC

In the backdrop of an ongoing controversy over anti-national slogans being raised in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, Vice Chancellor M Jagdeesh Kumar on Sunday urged all to help the varsity in focusing on academics.

New Delhi: In the backdrop of an ongoing controversy over anti-national slogans being raised in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus, Vice Chancellor M Jagdeesh Kumar on Sunday urged all to help the varsity in focusing on academics.

"The function of a university is to provide high quality of education to students. As a university we would like to focus on academics. Maintaining a conducive environment in JNU to achieve our goals should be our primary concern," Kumar said in a press note, as per ANI.

"We request everyone to help us focus on our main objective without any interference," he added.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the JNU agitation received support from Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed needs to be understood by the nation and 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."

His comments came two days after a series of tweets, purportedly by Saeed, had appeared under a hashtag asking Pakistanis to support the agitation in JNU.

Police are investigating as to whether the twitter handle actually belonged to the LeT founder.

Later, Delhi Police had issued an alert through the official twitter handle of the Commissioner's office saying, "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."

JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday on sedition charges over a protest organized in the JNU campus on February 9 against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

(With Agency inputs)

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