Effigy burning row: NSUI warns of nationwide protests if action is taken after JNU probe

New Delhi: The student wing of the Congress party, NSUI, on Thursday warned of country-wide protests if any action was taken against it for burning an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 October. [caption id=“attachment_3049972” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Firstpost/Tarique Anwar[/caption] “We will launch country-wide protests if any action is taken against us after the probe. We have done nothing wrong,” NSUI leader Sunny Dhiman told IANS. On 11 October, Dhiman along with other students had burned a multi-headed effigy at the Sabarmati Dhaba inside the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus. The effigy’s heads featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sadhvi Prachi, BJP President Amit Shah, Asaram Bapu and Nathuram Godse, besides others. A probe was ordered on Wednesday by the JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar. “The effigy burning incident at JNU was brought to our notice. We are investigating the matter and examining all relevant information,” the university head had tweeted. One of the heads on the effigy depicted the Vice Chancellor. “The Vice Chancellor is indulging in witch-hunting of Dalits and Muslims, instead of protecting their rights,” Dhiman told IANS, while confirming that although the probe was ordered but no notice was served. “No one raised any objection when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s effigy was burned. They are selectively targeting us this time,” the NSUI leader said. He said that effigy-burning is a routine affair in JNU. “We chose the day of Vijayadashami as it was on this day that BR Ambedkar adopted Buddhism and RSS was founded. We wanted to give them (BJP) a message that their discriminatory politics – Gau-Raksha politics will not work anymore,” he said. “Why do we need permission for any protests? This is not North Korea but a democratic country,” Dhiman added. There are a few other students who were issued notices in the past for effigy burning, but NSUI was not involved then.