‘India an imperialist country, pro-Azadi slogans on Kashmir justified’
After the students of varsity staged pro-Afzal Guru event on February 9, a professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has said Kashmir is under illegal occupation of India and justified pro-Azadi slogans on Kashmir.
Addressing a gathering of students on nationalism programme, JNU professor Nivedita Menon, who teaches at the Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory at the International Studies school, said, “We believe that democracy (Rashtraraj) is a very strong thing, but if it was so strong then why few students, who raised such (anti-India) slogans were arrested.”
“If such incidents happen then the democracy is not so strong as we claim because tanks and guns are used to keep the democracy intact and strong,” she said.
On Kashmir, Prof Menon said ”After Independence, the accession of Kashmir was done following the India-Pakistan war on the pretext that a plebiscite will be conducted when the situation gets back to normal and since then it (janmat sangrah) has not happened”.
“We all know that the world today believes that India is illegally occupying Kashmir,” she said.
Menon said India is an imperialist country. “Here 30-40 percent of the country is under control of the army in the name of special forces laws, which are used to crush the people.”
“Atrocities are being committed from Kashmir to the northeast and in Chhattisgarh,” she said adding “Manipur and Kashmir have been illegally occupied by the Indian state.”
The JNU professor was of the view that raising pro-azadi slogans in context of Kashmir is justified.
Further justifying her statement, Menon said, “When the international community is debating over legal occupation of Kashmir, then we should think that ‘azadi’ slogan is justified.”
She also said that Nagaland was annexed by India.
Menon was not the only one who shared such views. Retired Delhi University professor Achin Vinayak shared echoed similar views on Kashmir and the northeast.
JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, facing sedition charges for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans are presently under judicial custody.
JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges, was released on bail from Tihar Jail last week.
