JNU row: Army veterans plan protest march against 'anti-national' sloganeering

New Delhi: A group of army veterans here will lead a protest march on Sunday against alleged anti-national activities in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which they charged was an “organised attempt” to “balkanize” India. Addressing a press conference, Major General (Retd) Dhruv C Katoch said the rally has been organised by an “apolitical” group ‘People for Nation’ which has “just been” established. ABVP, the student wing of RSS, has been actively promoting the event and has sent out invites to the media, which Katoch downplayed claiming political parties “across the spectrum” have been invited to the event. [caption id=“attachment_2635394” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  JNU students at a protest march. Image courtesy: Tarique Anwar/Firstpost[/caption] “We are completely for unfettered freedom of speech but there should not be debate on a few things. We will march against anti-national slogans raised during the event at the JNU campus. We simply want to initiate a counter-narrative through this,” Katoch said. “This clearly is an organised attempt by disruptive forces, possibly with foreign funding, to attempt to balkanize India,” a statement released by the group said, adding such “anti-India” slogans have found resonance in other universities as well as the Kashmir Valley. Air Marshall (Retd) P K Roy said “anti-national” slogans “demoralise” the soldiers guarding the country’s frontiers. “A few unguided people resort to such activities. As elders, it is our responsibility to guide them,” he said. The veterans also urged families of martyrs to be present at the ‘March for unity to save the country’ that will begin at Raj Ghat at 10.30 am and culminate with a public meeting at Parliament Street here. PTI