Rao claimed that the opposition was encouraging students to act against national interests

NEW DELHI: Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Sunday accused the Congress and the INDIA alliance of encouraging anti-national activities, alleging that the controversy over graffiti at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia was part of a broader conspiracy to destabilise the country.Speaking to ANI, Rao claimed that radical networks within student groups were being supported by opposition political parties. He also alleged that the campus demonstrations were part of a foreign-sponsored effort to create unrest in India, though he did not provide evidence to substantiate the claim.“Writing on the walls of Jamia Millia University in Delhi, all these things are now being exposed because there are people who are part of the ‘Tukde-Tukde’ gang and anti-national gangs who are among the students, and they are in support of Sharjeel Imam, who has actually been involved in several anti-national activities,” Rao said.Targeting the Congress and other INDIA alliance parties over their alleged silence on the controversy, Rao claimed that the opposition was encouraging students to act against national interests.“This slogan shows that the Congress and the INDIA alliance, which are silent on this issue, show how they are inciting students and everyone in the country to go against the interests of the nation and indulge in anti-national activities,” he said.Rao further alleged that the protests were designed to create anarchy and were being sponsored by a foreign country to destabilise India.

Jamia protests trigger political row

The BJP leader’s remarks come amid heightened tensions at Jamia Millia Islamia, where university authorities recently shifted classes to an online format, citing student safety amid ongoing campus demonstrations.The controversy has also drawn Congress leaders into the dispute. Congress MP Imran Masood, who visited the university to meet protesting students on Friday, denied that slogans calling for a “free Kashmir” had been raised during the demonstrations. Delhi Police detained Masood during his visit.

“No slogans calling for a ‘free Kashmir’ were raised there, not a single one. I stood up in front of everyone and strongly condemned such slogans, stating that Kashmir is an integral part of India,” Masood told ANI.Since Oct 12, students have been on a sit-in and hunger strike, which has grown into Jamia’s biggest student protest since the anti-CAA agitation. Jamia has not had an elected union since 2006, when it was dissolved following violence. It is one of Delhi’s few central universities without an elected union.