NEW DELHI: Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the statue of Swami Vivekananda virtually without entering the JNU campus, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) members and office bearers, gathered outside the campus with placards and raised slogans such as ‘Uninvited Modi Go Back’, ‘Punish the perpetrators of January 5th attack’, ‘Save Public Education’ and ‘Unlock JNU’ among others.
The JNUSU also ran a hashtag ‘Hello Mr Prime Minister’ on social media. Many prominent student leaders present at the protests spoke their minds about the prime minister and his decision making.
He has chosen this university for installing the statue but whenever students raise their voice on any issue, everybody comes “hounding” and demands that the university should be shut, said JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who was leading the protest at the varsity’s north gate.
N Sai Balaji, former JNUSU president and national president of left-backed All India Students Association (AISA), asked, “Why is the PM not coming to inaugurate a hostel on the campus? Why is he not making a speech about students who have not got their scholarships? Our library has had an 80 per cent budget cut. Why is he not coming to announce that the funds will be sanctioned?”
Earlier in the day, the union had written an open letter to the prime minister saying they have pro found disagreements with his idea of India.