BJP vs Kargil martyr's daughter: Rijiju asks who's 'polluting' her mind

Pratap Simha, BJP MP from Mysuru, compared her to dreaded gangster Dawood

The campaign of Gurmehar Kaur, a Kargil martyr's daughter, against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Monday drew controversial reactions from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders with Union minister Kiren Rijiju wondering who was "polluting" her mind and another comparing her with wanted gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Pratap Simha, BJP MP from Mysuru, tweeted, "At least Dawood did not use the crutches of his father's name to justify his anti-national stand."

His tweet came as Kaur's campaign went viral online with her photograph in which she said, "Pakistan did not kill my father. War killed him."

To mock her, Simha also posted a photograph showing Dawood with the message, "I didn't kill people in 1993. Bombs killed them."

Rijiju also took to Twitter to take a dig at her.

"Who's polluting this young girl's mind? Strong armed forces prevent a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded," the minister of state for home affairs said.

Talking to reporters, he later said, "One should not say things which could demoralise the countrymen and the forces. Everybody has freedom but that does not mean that you raise slogans to weaken the country."

The daughter of Kargil martyr Captain Mandeep Singh and a Delhi University student, 24-year-old Kaur had started a social media campaign "I am not afraid of ABVP" following the violence at Ramjas college. Her campaign has gone viral and received support from students across various universities.

"Everyone has right of views but she said Pakistan didn't kill our brave martyr and India should shun war. India never perpetrated violence," Rijiju said.

The Union minister of state for home said freedom of expression is not a licence to shout anti-national slogans in campuses. "Criticise the government but don't abuse the motherland," he said.

"Some people say they need freedom in India. Listen to those people taking shelter in India after facing torture in neighbouring countries," he said referring to minority communities from neighbouring nations which came to India after facing persecution.

After his tweet, there were angry protests by many social media users with some questioning usage of the word "polluting" by the minister while others criticised him for using Twitter to air his views.

However, some of the tweets supported the comments made by Rijiju.