'Jai Nathuram University': Jairam Ramesh's dig at govt over new JNU VC appointment
New Delhi, Feb 9: JNU's transition from one of the best universities in India to becoming "Jai Nathuram University" seems to be getting consolidated and deepened, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Wednesday amid criticism from some quarters over Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit's appointment as its VC.
His remarks came a day after BJP MP Varun Gandhi slammed the choice of Pandit as the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, saying such "mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital and our youth's future".
Taking to Twitter, Ramesh said, "3 Ministers in the Modi Cabinet are from the old JNU. Sadly, its transition from one of the best universities in India to becoming Jai Nathuram University seems to be getting consolidated and deepened."
Pandit, 59, is the first woman VC of JNU. She is also an alumna of JNU where she pursued her MPhil as well as PhD in international relations.
There has been criticism of her appointment from some quarters.
3 Ministers in the Modi Cabinet are from the old JNU. Sadly, its transition from one of the best universities in India to becoming Jai Nathuram University seems to be getting consolidated and deepened.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) February 9, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
