Jaitley should apologise for ‘insulting’ academia: Cong
INTOLERANT: Chidambaram hits out over subversive remark
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday demanded that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley apologise for “insulting” the Indian academia for his remark at the London School of Economics (LSE) that “there is an alliance of subversion on Indian campuses”, in reference to last week’s violence at Ramjas College.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram too hit out at Jaitley. “When Jaitley was president of DUSU in 1975, was he heading an ‘Alliance of Subversion’?” — he asked sarcastically on Twitter.
“The Finance Minister went to London. At LSE, he said ‘there is an alliance of subversion across university campuses in India’. Thus spoke the Finance Minister in the erstwhile capital of Imperial Britain,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari at a media conference here.
“He has insulted the academia of India, insulted its students, teachers and the other members of the fraternity. He (Jaitley) should apologise for the language he has used against Indian academia and that too on foreign soil,” he added.
Delivering a talk at the LSE on Saturday, Jaitley had: “Violence is not the method; no group can and should use violence... there is an alliance of subversion which is taking place. The separatists and the ultra-Left are speaking the same language in certain university campuses.
“So, they must be willing to allow others with a different opinion to put a counter viewpoint.”
Jaitley’s comment comes days after violent clashes outside Delhi University’s Ramjas college between activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad — the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s students wing — and the left-wing All India Students Association (AISA) on February 22.
Tewari also said Jaitley’s remarks reflect the deep-seated fear in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that there is an instinctive alliance of subversion coming together.
“That instinctive alliance of subversion is predicated on undermining the fascist principle, which is intrinsic to the BJP. That is the alliance which challenges their intolerance and their right to dominate the discourse which is making the government paranoid,” he said.
“The violence which took place in Ramjas College is absolutely abhorrent. What is more shocking, is the attempts made by senior members of the government to justify the violence.