Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) vice president Saket Moon has demanded the reconstruction of the Babri Masjid. The JNU student leader made the comments during a harmony march on December 6 night which was held to commemorate the demolition of the Babri mosque and the death anniversary of BR Ambedkar.
Moon made the speech when some JNU students gathered at a site holding placards, shouting slogans to protest against the Babri Masjid demolition.
“…Compensation has to be awarded. It has to be accepted that the demolition of Babri Masjid was wrong and it should be reconstructed,” Moon was heard saying in a purported video.
Interestingly, an office bearer of the JNUSU maintained a distance from Moon’s comment.
Reacting to Moon’s comment, JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav said that the student’s body union has nothing to do with his demand to reconstruct Babri Masjid.
“The JNUSU did not raise the demand. He had talked about how the court has accepted that the demolition of Babri Masjid was wrong and had said that it should be constructed again,” Yadav said.
Addressing the students participating in the protest march, JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh took aim at BJP, saying after Babri Masjid, the next target of the saffron party is Kashi and they have started working on it.
JNUSU screened ‘Ram Ke Naam’ documentary despite administration’s objection
Despite the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration’s advice to cancel the ‘unauthorised’ screening of ‘Ram Ke Naam’ documentary, the JNUSU had screened it on December 4.
The JNU administration had advised the JNUSU to cancel the screening of ‘Ram Ke Naam’ documentary, saying “such an unauthorised activity may disturb communal harmony and peaceful environment” of the campus.
“This is to emphasise that such an unauthorised activity may disturb communal harmony and peaceful environment of the university campus. The concerned students/individuals are firmly advised to cancel the proposed programme immediately failing which a strict disciplinary action as per the university rules may be initiated against those responsible for this event. The students are also instructed not to get provoked by this pamphlet, which is unauthorised and unwarranted,” the circular issued by the JNU read.
Reacting to the JNU circular, Moon had said the administration cannot decide what the students will watch.
“December 6 will be the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition. We decided to hold the screening of the documentary. The university administration cannot decide what students will watch. The documentary is in the public domain, freely available on Youtube and has also won awards,” the JNUSU vice president had said.