HM on JNU row: No innocent student will be harassed

Amid raging controversy over JNU, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tonight assured the Lok Sabha that no innocent student will be harassed and said the issue of sedition charge slapped against some students should be left for the courts to decide.
Singh also told the House that those found guilty of attacks on media in Patiala House Court will not be spared.
The Home Minister also answered criticism for making a remark that LeT founder Hafiz Sayeed had expressed support to JNU students, saying he never makes any comment which is "baseless or not backed by any direct or indirect evidence". He, however, refrained from going into details citing confidentiality.

Replying to a day-long debate on the JNU issue, he said the government had not hand in the action taken against the students.
He said police is taking action with regard to allegations that anti-India slogans were chanted there.
"If slapping of sedition charge was right, the court will uphold it, if it was wrong, the court will quash it. But let the court take a view on it," he said.

Insisting that he never considered JNU as a "centre of
anti-national activities" as alleged by the opposition, the Home Minister said he was appreciative of the contribution of its "highly-talented" alumni in different fields.

He said students have the freedom of expression and that nobody should have a problem with dissent.
"But there is a limit to the freedom of expression. If that is transgressed, it cannot be condoned by a vigilant society," Singh said.
While asserting that nobody is in agreement with the slogans that were raised in JNU, the Home Minister also made it clear that those who indulged in violence in Patiala Court will not be spared.
The Home Minister, who spoke after the reply of HRD Minister Smriti Irani, showered lavish praise on her saying her speech will be an eye-opener not only for Parliament but the entire nation.