Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Issues not politics” (May 8). Row over MA Jinnah’s portrait being hung at the Central Hall of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is getting murkier day by day. The only solace is that the ignition is parochial to the students of the university.
The editorial has rightly said that universities are meant only for study and for making one’s career. It should not become a breeding ground for raising anti-India slogans where only boisterous students’ rule reigns supreme, bypassing even the Indian Constitution. It is not understood as to why Jinnah’s portrait has been hanging at the Central Hall of the AMU for eight decades.
It should have been removed soon after Partition. Is Jinnah’s stature bigger than that of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh or lala lajpat RaiIJ The Mahatma’s statue in Karachi was dismantled in 1950; and one’s of Bhagat Singh and lajpat Rai were broken into pieces in lahore in 1947.
Even the statue of Ganga Ram, the renowned civil engineer who gave lahore famous buildings as the Aitchison College, Hailey College of Commerce, Ganga Ram Hospital, General Post Office among others, was razed to the ground and we Indians continue to hang on to Jinnah’s portrait. The time has come that his portrait be removed from AMU.