Some students of select varsities talking about dividing India: Rijiju

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said some students in select universities of the country are talking about dividing the country and asked the youths not to pay heed to them.

Rijiju was speaking at the closing ceremony of the five-day 23rd National Youth Festival (NYF), which started on January 12, here.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the target of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat', but some students of select universities in the country are taking of doing 'tukde-tukde' (dividing) of the country. However, their number is not much," he said.

Some people "under the influence of external forces are trying to vitiate the good atmosphere of the country in a well-planned way", the minister claimed.

"They are running a campaign through social media in the country. These campaigns are funded by foreign countries," Rijiju said.

Youths of the country should not pay heed to "anti-national slogans" and put their energy towards the development of the country, he said.

Rijiju said that "our target should be showing the strength of the country in the 2028 Olympics and make India stand among the top 10 countries in the medal list".

The government has been organising NYF since 1995 with an objective to provide a platform to the youth of the country and provide them with an opportunity to showcase their talents in various activities.