The main opposition Congress condemned the anti-India slogans made in JNU but cautioned that holding innocent people for the crimes of others as "part of a pick-and-choose" policy could have very dangerous consequences.     

Participating in a debate on the JNU row, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad questioned whether action should not be taken against media organisations which had run videos which were apparently misleading.
    
Asserting that his party was for punishing the guilty, he said it appeared that somebody had shouted slogans but videos appeared to be implicating someone else.
    
He said action should be taken, even if such a media organisation is close to a party. Action shoould be taken and case of sedition filed against those who tried to create divisions, whether it is a channel person or anybody, he said.
    
Referring to a reported resignation by a TV channel employee, Azad asked whether such media organisations divide the country as per news which suits them.
    
He also accused the BJP of shielding its MLA and lawyers affliliated with the party, who allegedly induldged in violence in Patiala House court premises.
    
Azad also claimed that BJP was on a weak wicket vis-a-vis Congress on the issue of nationalism as his party has a long and illustrious history. "Those who live in glass houses don't throw stones at others," he said.     

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said an effort was being made to metamorphosise India, a secular democratic republic, into a "theocratic, fascist Hindu Rashtra".
    
"Please do not castigate the entire student community and the institutions," and "stop this tirade for advancing your brand of nationalism", he said and termed the government's "interference" in some univerisities as "illegal".
    
Claiming that BJP was exhibiting its love for nationalism like a neo convert does for his new religion, Azad said the governemt could hold a debate on nationalism in this session.     

He also suggested formation of a House Committee chaired by an opposition party leader to look in to the functioning of Universities, which he claimed were being divided by ABVP's activities.
    
The Congress leader also claimed that University of Hyderabad scholar Rohith Vemula was forced to commit suicide blaming youth wing of the party which is ABVP.     

He said for Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, love for the country flows in their blood as his father, grandfather and others have made sacrifices for the country.
    
"In the name of nationalism, there is an attempt to divide people," he said.
    
Earlier, the HRD Minister contended that JNU row as well Vemula's suicide were being projected wrongly to target her, and quoted Macbeth, saying "fair is foul, foul is fair".     

She also rejected the charge of saffronisation of education and to buttress her point, she cited the case of wife of a Left MP appointed by the NDA government as an ICHR member.
    
She also hit back at Congress, saying its government had appointed a former NSUI president as Haryana Central Univeristy Vice Chancellor.
    
Irani also referred to other political appointments by the previous government to make her point.     

To Congress' criticism of her action against certain vice-chancellors, she said Vishwa Bharti University VC was removed by the President after an inquiry indicted him on charge of sexual misconduct.
    
She recalled that TMC as well as Left members had written to her demanding action against him.     

"For you to say I am 'sanghi' (RSS member) with horns on my head removed them is wrong," she said while also defending scrapping of the DU's Four Year Undergraduate Programme.
    
She also took a dig at Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) over his attack on her on Rohith Vemula's suicide in Hyderabad Central Univeristy. Irani read from Vemula's Facebook posts in which he criticised the Left over absence of dalits from its leadership.
    
"Yechury sees his party as a private agency. He is waiting for this amendment to be made to convince his party to taker dalits into leadership," she quoted from his post, which he had written in response to Yechury's call for quota in private sector.
    
She also rejected the charge that police had never entered JNU before the recent row, saying in 2009, during UPA rule, police had entered the campus and lath-charged students.
    
With regard to the row over anti-national slogans, she said a JNU report had named the accused students.

Javed Ali Khan (SP) said it was not for the first time that anti-national slogans have been raised in the country and referred to Kashmir where such instances keep happening.     

Taking a pot shot at the ruling party, he said it would be easy for them to identify anti-national people if they looked at participants in rallies organised by its allies.     

"We also love our country," he said. He said the BJP's idea of nation is not in line with Constitution. "Your notion is of Hindu Nation," said Khan.
    
Condemning divisive slogans raised by some people in JNU, he said pictures of some ABVP members raising anti-national slogans too are circulating in media and should be probed.
    
He further said that Kanhiya Kumar, arrested in the JNU case, had spoken against capitalism, communalism and sanghwad.     

"He wanted to create a front of dalits, minorities, backwards...and that is why BJP was afraid of him," Khan said.     

K C Tyagi (JD-U) said representation of dalit community should be increased in judiciary.
    
When he talked about views of M S Golwalkar, the second chief of RSS on the national flag, BJP members raised objection and wanted him to authenticate the documents he was quoting from.
    
To one of his remarks, Irani asked him to take back his words, insisting that she had never called anyone castest.     

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (Trinamool Congress) raised the issue of Vemula's death and the incident establishes that bright scholars belonging to dalit community were not safe.
    
On JNU, he asked why permission was given to organise the event. He also said it was "extremely deplorable" why no preventive action was taken either by the government or university authorities.
    
Without naming anyone, he said there is "rat race" among some political parties to support or not support the incident for political benefits.
    
Stressing that his party condemns anti-national activity or slogans, he said at the same time innocents should not be branded anti-national.
    
Roy also talked about violence at Patiala House Court and "doctored" videos related to JNU incident. He also demanded re-look at the section on sedation in the IPC to stop its misuse.

Narendra Kumar Kashyap (BSP) demanded that the government should include a dalit member in the judicial committee probing suicide of Vemula.
    
He also demanded that the government should bring six students to the book for allegedly causing Vemula's suicide.     

Kashyap said the government has not assured safety and security of dalits even after 69 years of the country's independence.
    
Bhupinder Singh (BJD) said the conference on Afzal Guru in JNU was being conducted for last three years. "Why no action was taken earlier? Even IB had clue about it."
    
Terming the two incidents that occurred in JNU and Hyderabad University as "institutionalised murder", D P Tripathi (NCP) said, "The whole atmosphere of hate has been created. It will not help. Reconciliation is need of the hour."
    
The government blundered by charging sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar, he said, and added, "The reason is that JNU, by and large, opposed communalism and fascism. The party (BJP) is using the incident to malign the institution."    

Neither BJP nor the government has taken action against its MLA for attacking media and lawyers in Patiala Court premises recently, he added.
    
Sanjay Raut (SS) said, "If in JNU slogans were shouted in support of Afzal Guru, it is unfortunate. What was the need? The action need to be taken."
    
He also said that Pakistan had declared a young cricket supporter as "traitor" for unfurling Indian flag in its country. "Should not action be taken if students in JNU talk in support of Afzal Guru?" he questioned.

Referring to a critical Facebook post written by Rohith Vemula on Yechury, Irani quoted: "Yechury on reservation is funny... Now he wants reservation in private sector... He and his party is like a placement agency."
    
Referring to another Facebook post of Vemula, Irani said the post says that Students Federation of India (SFI), Left are trying to pitch Dalits against Dalits.     

Countering allegations that RSS and BJP were terrorising the students, the HRD Minister cited the case of a SFI student leader who was allegedly harassing a ABVP girl activist who tried to commit suicide in Kerala.
    
Referring to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's speech, Irani said he "spoke so eloquently on the snow in Kashmir... But how many Kashmiri Pandits saw the snow in their homelands."
    
On the Delhi University's (DU) Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), Irani said the programme was rolled back to ensure that the future of the students who had enrolled was secure as FYUP did not have the sanction of the President and it was "not legally tenable."
    
Responding to Congress MP P L Punia's charge on indifference towards Dalit teachers, the Minister referred to the case filed by the SC/ST Teachers' Forum of DU on the university refusing to apply the reservation policy.     

The case was filed during the time when the UPA government was in power, she said, adding "We have tired to help those teachers."