Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has called for opposing the Central government’s dictatorial policies with Mahatma Gandhi’s way of non-violence.
“What happened at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is being condemned across the country. The government’s dictatorship needs to be answered with Gandhiji’s way of non-violence,” Mr. Pawar said on Thursday, adding the violence at JNU has hurt sentiments of the students’ community.
He was speaking after flagging off the ‘Gandhi Shanti Yatra’ started by former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the JNU violence, at the Gateway of India. The programme was attended by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Amabedkar, who is known for his anti-NCP stand.
Mr. Pawar, referring to the anti-CAA protests, said a big section of society is feeling disappointed with the government. “Some steps taken by the Centre have given a jolt to the country’s unity. Members of some sections of society feel their interests are not being protected.”
The NCP chief said there are members of several sections, including the minorities, who cannot tell where they came from and where they would live. “They will be forced to live in camps. The government has left representatives of the Independent India and shareholders of the country disappointed,” he said.
The government needs to be shown the right path of Gandhi’s non-violent way, which only can help save the Constitution, Mr. Pawar said.
Mr. Sinha said, “We will protect the Constitution drafted by Ambedkarji. We will not let the country be partitioned again. We will not let Gandhi be murdered again. We are all one and will remain one.”
Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh, who also participated in the yatra, reiterated his demand that the Maharashtra government remove all those vice-chancellors from State universities who have links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and were appointed during the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led regime.
He alleged that whatever happened at JNU was because the university administration has people who follow the ideology of the RSS.
Mr. Deshmukh said JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, too, is believed to be following the RSS ideology. “So, to avoid any JNU-like incident in Maharashtra universities, the government should remove the vice-chancellors who have RSS links.”
(With PTI inputs)
