Shun politics of hate on campuses: Naidu
   Date :08-Jan-2020

Shun politics of hate on
 
BENGALURU :
 
DAYS after the Jawaharlal Nehru University was rocked by violence, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said educational campuses must not become safe havens for the politics of hate and violence to thrive. He also said academic endeavours and co-curricular initiatives must attain primacy in universities and not factionalism and divisive tendencies.
 
There is no doubt that there is space for every shade of opinion and every point of view in our universities, Naidu said in his address at the silver jubilee celebrations of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) here. The Vice-President’s comments come in the backdrop of the violence at the JNU on Sunday night when masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, leaving several injured.
 
“Our children, when they leave the portals of the educational institutions must be enlightened citizens who will take an abiding interest in protecting our democracy and preserving the fundamental values that are enshrined in our Constitution. But our campuses must not become safe havens for the politics of hate and violence to thrive. Academic endeavours and co-curricular initiatives must attain primacy in our universities and not factionalism and divisive tendencies,” Naidu said. 
 
‘Give info on JNU attack’
 
NEW DELHI, 
 
DELHI Police on Tuesday issued a public appeal seeking pictures, footage or any information related to Sunday’s violence in JNU campus that left 34 people injured even as forensic teams looked for evidence. Teams from Physics, Chemistry and Biology divisions of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) were in the university, sources said.
 
The Physics team will collect evidence such as rods and stones used by the masked mob to attack students and teachers at the university, while the Chemistry team will collect samples of chemicals, if there are any. The biology team will collect DNA samples, among other evidence. A team of photo experts from the FSL was also present at the campus. Delhi Police has requested the FSL to also send a computer forensics team to analyse CCTV footage and it is likely to visit the university on Wednesday.