The comment came days after Left-backed Unity Alliance swept the JNUSU polls, leading to clashes between members of ABVP and the Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA).
Newly elected JNU Students' Union president N Sai Balaji on Tuesday retorted to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement alleging some forces in the varsity are "waging a war" against India, saying this was deflection from "real issues" grappling the country.
Sitharaman, while answering a question on the situation in JNU, had said, "There are forces which are waging a war against India and it is they who are also seen with elected representatives of students union. That makes me feel uneasy."
The comment came days after Left-backed Unity Alliance swept the JNUSU polls, leading to clashes between members of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA).
She had further said, "The kind of things which have happened in the last few years (in JNU) are not really encouraging at all. It is very different to have a party whose ideology you may not agree with. But the way in which they were probably got led by forces which are anti-India."
Balaji, meanwhile, reacted sharply to the statement saying, "We see her allegations as a strategy to divert the attention of the public from this loot of national wealth, and jobs, as well as promoting institutes like the non-existent Jio University which make education inaccessible to the poor."
He further trained his guns at the government, claiming: "The government wants the country to talk about the national versus anti-national debate. They want to divert attention from the real issues — the Rafale deal, Jio University, unemployment."
He added that the minister, who herself is an alumni of the institution, has refused to answer questions on the Rafale deal. "They want to end public-funded education and encourage corporatisation while the common man talks about nationalism and anti-national elements," he claimed.
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