A poster with Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s image and his quote in favour of the Palestinian people put up by ‘Rashtravadi Students of Jadavpur’
Students identifying themselves as “rashtravadi students of JU” put up banners featuring Atal Bihari Vajpayee ’s image and his quote on Palestine, to counter “anti-national” attacks. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier objected to the writing of “Free Palestine” in a speech and X post. Comparative literature student Abhinaba Basu said, “I don’t know who put up the banner, but the statement is correct. Chemical engineering student Nabab said, “Vajpayee stated this multiple times. Nationalist Students’ Front (NSF) founding member Somsurya Banerjee said, “We have no connection with it.
Vajpayee’s quote on the banner read: “The land of the Arabs that Israel has occupied must be vacated… and the legitimate rights of the Palestinians must be established. Vajpayee was a senior BJP neta, and this was his statement. Now, the state govt is trying to label everyone who speaks in favour of Palestine as ‘anti-national’. It seems that the BJP does not have a clear consensus among themselves. The Left and ultra-Left have done it to portray themselves as ‘nationalist’.”
History student Rijupalika Mukherjee said, “Each one of them questioned and criticised the system in their own ways — through music, poetry, literature and philosophy. Sanjiban Dip Barman said, “The rally is to re-establish nationalism and uproot Maoism and Naxalism from the campus.” Does that make them a threat to the nation as well? We’re trying to make the point that those who uphold these personalities, who are considered the pride of our nation, cannot be anti-nationals. Criticising the system does not make anyone anti-national; instead, it shows that they love their country enough to ask for a better society without oppression and injustice for all fellow citizens. ” ABVP’s JU unit held a ‘Vandemataram Yatra’ from Aurobindo Bhavan and put up banners showing Vidyasagar, Tagore, Khudiram, Sri Aurobindo, Nandalal Bose’s illustration of Ram and Subhas Chandra Bose in the Indian Constitution.