JNU row: Annie Raja calls for action against 'anti-national' elements

Demanding an impartial probe into the Jawaharlal Nehru University row, Annie Raja, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI)-backed National Federation of Indian Women, on Sunday said that action should be taken against anyone raising 'anti-national' slogans.

"I don't know whether it comes under sedition or not. But as a citizen of this country, I cannot afford such sloganeering," she said.

"We demand that action should be taken against anyone raising anti-national slogans, including my daughter. There should be no compromise on that," she added.

The women activist further said the police should conduct an impartial inquiry, which should not be guided by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"They should conduct an impartial inquiry and find out who raised such a slogan, and take action," she demanded.

Stating that the JNU row is a "political issue", Annie Raja said there is no need to politicise it.

"I am saying it's a political issue because it is not a single issue of the JNU. We can see a pattern - the same pattern was repeated here either from Hyderabad or some other places," she said.

"The RSS elements and its brother or sister organisations, whose main agenda is making India a Hindu Rashtra, but this country is not a theocratic country, it's a democratic country. So, it is a political issue, we want this country a secular and a democratic republican country and that's why the attack and targeting innocent students, who happens to be from the Left students' organisations, has some design, some agenda. That is why we are saying it is political issue," she added.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered a magisterial probe into the JNU campus row following the arrest of Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.

"There are claims that JNU student leaders shouted anti-India slogans and counter claims that ABVP activists did it. To find truth, Delhi govt is directing DM to conduct an enquiry," he tweeted.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday said that the government would take strict action against the JNU students, who raised anti-India slogans.

"If anyone raises anti-India slogans and tries to raise question on nation's unity and integrity, they will not be spared. Stringent action must be taken against those who raised anti-India slogans in JNU," he added.

JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on Friday over a protest organized in the JNU campus on February 9 against the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He was arrested on sedition charges.