BJP's nationalism is centralised despotism: Sugata Bose

New Delhi: The nationalism propounded by the ruling BJP is centralised despotism, Trinamool Congress member Sugata Bose said on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha while participating in a discussion on the Jawaharlal Nehru University controversy.

"I am a nationalist. But I do not vouch for the kind of nationalism propounded by the treasury benches. This nationalism is centralised despotism," Bose said.

Bose said although he is not a communist, he would support JNU students union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, a leftist, and other students for the sake of freedom of expression. 

"The idea of India is not so brittle as to go away with a few slogans," Bose said, referring to the alleged anti-national slogans raised at the JNU campus on February 9.

Terming the government`s crackdown on some JNU students a "witch hunt", the Trinamool MP said if universities and students are attacked in this way, "the legacy of the anti-colonial freedom struggle is undermined".

"What must be avoided is criminality of dissent," he said.

Bose also accused the ruling dispensation of diverting the nation`s attention from the core issues of governance.