Country keen to hear alternate voice in JNU: Prasad

Amid a raging debate over the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) incident, the government on Wednesday said there is an "alternative voice" in the university, which should also be heard. 

"JNU is a very premier institution of India, widely respected also. It has produced outstanding civil servants, great academicians and also well-known public figures. Its faculty and students also excel well. We all think there is also a very eloquent, powerful and constructive alternative voice in the JNU. The country is equally eager to hear that voice," said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, after a Cabinet meeting. He added that the JNU row was not discussed in the meeting.

There is a criticism from the right wing that the university has become a hotbed of extreme Left elements articulating "anti-national" sentiments. Prasad, however, evaded a direct reply on violence targeting journalists and students in the Patiala House Courts on Tuesday as well Wednesday, saying that the matter is under investigation and he himself has condemned "what happened to the press people".

Asked about the JNU issue and the violence in the court, he said: "The entire matter is under investigation. The Police Commissioner came on television and explained everything about both the cases; what happened to the press people, which I yesterday condemned. Both are under investigation Therefore, I need not comment," he said.

Meanwhile, Prasad’s Cabinet colleage and MoS for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has lashed out at the Congress and “some other parties” for misusing educational institutions for political interests. He claimed the fight over an “anti-national” event at JNU is between “Break India and Build India”.

Addressing a BJP protest at Jantar Mantar against alleged anti-national slogans raised at JNU campus, Naqvi said “anti-national activities by students at JNU and some other places is a conspiracy to malign India’s global image.” 

He alleged that after having failed to misguide people over the “so-called issue of intolerance”, Congress and some other parties are now misusing educational institutes for their narrow political interests.