Taking cognisance of the effigy burning of the Prime Minister and other leaders on Dussehera by projecting them as Ravan, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Thursday ordered an enquiry into the incident. The effigy was burnt by the JNU unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the students’ wing of Congress on the university campus. Meanwhile Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought a report from the Delhi Police about the incident in question.
“We have ordered an inquiry into the effigy burning incident and are examining the issue,” said JNU Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar, whose picture was also put on the effigy set ablaze on Tuesday night.
The move comes nearly a week after the varsity ordered a proctorial inquiry into burning of effigy of Gujarat government and 'gau-rakshak' (cow vigilantes) and issued show-cause notices to the students concerned.
While Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and heads of several other militant organisations were the faces of Ravana effigies burnt on Dussehra across the country, members of NSUI chose the visages of PM and BJP chief Amit Shah to represent the demon king and burnt the effigy on Tuesday.
They claimed that it was a protest against the Centre's “failure” to honour its promises and the “continuous attacks” on various educational institutions across the country.
While university officials maintained that no permission was sought for the event, the organisers claimed that effigy burning was a “routine” thing on campus and did not require permission from the administration. Besides Modi and Shah, the effigy had faces of Yoga guru Ramdev, Sadhvi Pragya, Nathuram Godse, Asaram Bapu and the Vice-Chancellor. The students also carried placards with the slogan, 'Truth shall prevail over evil'.
Meanwhile NSUI, on Thursday warned of country-wide protests if any action was taken against it for burning an effigy of the Prime Minister on October 11. “We will launch country-wide protests if any action is taken against us after the probe. We have done nothing wrong,” NSUI leader Sunny Dhiman said.
On October 11, Dhiman along with other students had burned a multi-headed effigy at the Sabarmati Dhaba inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.