Jaitley blames ‘alliance of subversion’ for campus violence

27/02/2017

London, Feb 26: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has blamed an "alliance of subversion" for university campus violence and argued that the separatists and the ultra-Left were speaking the same language in certain campuses.
The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs made the remarks while responding to students from the South Asia Centre of the London School of Economics (LSE), who asked him about his stand on the classification of the term "anti- national" and the clashes between AISA and ABVP supporters in Ramjas College of the Delhi University earlier this week.
"Any idea which thinks in terms of disintegration of (the) country, is something I abhor. Within the framework of upholding the sovereignty of (the) country, we can ideologically differ but free speech does not permit you to assault the sovereignty of the country," Jaitley said yesterday.
Stressing that he did not believe that there was "any space for violence" on campus, Jaitley said, "I personally believe that free speech in India and in any society, has to be debated. If you believe, you have free speech to assault the sovereignty of the country, then be ready to concede free speech to counter that."
"I find this absolutely strange that an argument is being raised that I have free speech to advocate that India should be broken into pieces and those who oppose me are hindering that right to free speech. Well, they too have a right to free speech," he said.
"Violence is not the method; no group can and should use violence...there is an alliance of subversion which is taking place. The separatists and the ultra-Left are speaking the same language in certain university campuses. So they must be willing to allow others with a different opinion to put a counter viewpoint," he said.
Ramjas College had witnessed violent clashes last Wednesday between students of the Left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), linked to the BJP, that had left many injured.
The clashes erupted over an invite to Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to speak at a seminar on 'Culture of Protests', which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.
He also said democracy is liberal enough in the UK to permit defaulters to stay here and that “normal” needs to be cracked, in an apparent reference to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for loan default and other cases.
Referring to loan default as a major problem that needs to be addressed, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs said India was no longer willing to let defaulters escape the law.
“Many thought that when you take loan from the banks, the money need not be re-paid and you can come to London and stay out here…And democracy is liberal enough to permit defaulters to stay here. That normal needs to be cracked,” he said during a session yesterday on ‘Transforming India: Vision for the Next Decade’ organised by the London School of Economics’ (LSE) South Asia Centre.
“It is the first time that you have strong action being taken. In fact, it has never happened that defaulters are on the run. The fact that they are on the run and their properties are being attached, is a signal that India as a country is sending for the first time. Otherwise, we had learned to live with defaulters,” he said during his ongoing visit to the UK.
Mallya, the chief of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, had moved to Britain in March last year after banks sued him to recover around USD 1.4 billion owed by the airline.
Earlier this month, the Indian government formally requested Britain to extradite him to India for standing trial for alleged loan default and money laundering.
India and the UK have an extradition treaty since 1993, under which only one extradition from the UK to India has ever taken place, that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel in October, 2016, to stand trial for his alleged role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
Jaitley refused to confirm if the issue of Mallya’s extradition would feature in his talks with senior British ministers, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Monday and UK Chancellor Philip Hammond on Tuesday.
However, senior officials in London had indicated earlier that the issue is likely to be on the agenda.

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