Universities can't be used as anti-India meet platform: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

NEW DELHI: Varsities cannot be used as a platform for anti-India meetings, said Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh on Saturday.

“Universities can't be used as platform for anti-India meeting. I am personally in favour of free flow of ideas, thoughts and ideology. But the bottom line has to be the commitment to national integrity,” said the Union Minister at an event in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Singh was commenting on the recent incidents of a varsity professor allegedly calling Bhagat Singh a terrorist.

Mohammad Tajuddin, a professor of Jammu University, was filmed calling Bhagat Singh a terrorist in a 25-second clip. 

Some students of the university lodged a complaint with the varsity administration in this regard.

The accused professor, however, defended himself, claiming that a 25-second clip was cut out from his two-hour lecture and the remark was shown out of context. Professor Tajuddin further said that even he considered Bhagat Singh a revolutionary.

“I was teaching Lenin (Russian revolutionary) and in that context, I said state calls any violence against it 'terrorism'. Someone took a 25-second video out of my 2-hours lecture. Terrorist word came in that. It was not what I meant. Still, if anyone is hurt, I am really sorry for it,” said the professor.

“I also consider Bhagat Singh a revolutionary. He is one of the people who sacrificed their lives for the country,” he added.

The professor was later suspended.