Kanhaiya Kumar speaks well, he cannot give slogans hailing Afzal Guru: Shiv Sena backs JNU leader

The Shiv Sena on Wednesday said that the BJP has no moral right to criticize student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been charged with sedition, after teaming up with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Sena also asked the ruling BJP to refrain from taking political mileage from the sedition case against Kumar, a former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students' Union.

The BJP committed a "sin" by aligning with People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, it said, claiming that she considered Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru as a martyr.

The BJP was part of the PDP-led government in Jammu and Kashmir but pulled out of the coalition last year.

The Delhi Police had on Monday filed a charge sheet in a court against Kanhaiya Kumar and others, saying he was leading a procession and supported seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus in February 2016.

"The BJP committed the biggest sin of aligning with Mehbooba Mufti, who considers Afzal Guru a freedom fighter and a martyr. Now the BJP, for its own benefit, should not try and take political mileage out of the sedition case filed against Kanhaiya," the Sena said in an editorial.

A terrorist like Ajmal Kasab, convicted in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case, was given a chance by the court to defend himself, it said, and expressed hope that Kumar would also be given a chance to present his case.

If the allegations against him are not true, they will not stand in court, said the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, which is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

"Kanhaiya Kumar speaks well. Since he represents the harried and unemployed youth, he cannot give slogans hailing Afzal Guru or independence for Kashmir. Anyway, what moral right does the BJP have to condemn Kanhaiya Kumar?" it asked.

The Sena wondered if the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, was unable to win elections in JNU as voting there was not held through the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"Maharashtra BJP minister Girish Mahajan recently claimed he will show his 'magic' wherever he is sent and make sure his party wins polls. We request the BJP to send him to JNU to defeat the anti-nationals there. But tell him that elections in JNU are not held through EVMs," it said in sarcastic remarks.