Jinnah portrait row: AMU VC to meet Rajnath Singh

The Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Professor Tariq Mansoor will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Wednesday over Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah portrait row.

Earlier in the day, Professor Mansoor dubbed the Jinnah portrait controversy as a 'non-issue' and underscored that latter's portrait is also present at the Bombay High Court and the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat.

Talking to ANI, AMU vice-chancellor, Professor Tariq Mansoor said, "Jinnah's portrait has been here since 1938. Jinnah's portrait is at many places including Bombay HC and Sabarmati Ashram and Nehru Museum too. No one was worried about the portraits until now; I think it is a non-issue."

Professor Mansoor also asserted that the agitation by students in the university had no connection with the Jinnah portrait row.

"Students' agitation had no relation to Jinnah portrait row, they were protesting against people who came to AMU to disturb the peace on May 2. Spoken to chief secretary for a judicial inquiry into the incident," he said while reacting on the ruckus due to which event of former vice-president Hamid Ansari was cancelled.

In Aligarh, some groups protested against the portrait of Jinnah present at the office of AMU student union's office.

The matter grabbed headlines first after Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Aligarh MP Satish Gautam questioned the portrait's presence in the office.