Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice- Chancellor, M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday requested Union Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan and General V K Singh to help in procuring an Army tank that could be stationed at a prominent place on a university campus to serve as a constant reminder to students of the sacrifices made by Indian Army.
He said the purpose behind this to remind the students about great sacrifice and valour of the Indian army and defense forces. The initial idea of displaying the military tank to “instill nationalism” was brought up in the aftermath of 9 Februaryat2016, on an event on campus, where the alleged raging of anti- national’s slogans led to students being arrested for sedition.
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The follow-up statement later came during an advance celebration program for Kargil Vijay Divas. In attendance at the event were Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of state for Petroleum and Natural Gas, VK Singh, minister of state for external affairs, retd major general, GD Bakshi and international cricketer Gautam Gambhir. The attendance of the students was however very low.
During the event, General Bakshi termed the JNU as a “new and transformed campus”. Taking a jibe at the Left-leaning students in JNU he said, “See how we turned things around. We want to make them understand how people in the Army lay down their lives. Last year, what happened at JNU was a clear show of shamelessness by separatist forces,” the retired officer also said.
Later, the VC, M Jagdesh Kumar addressed the students and others present in the ceremony followed by an inspirational speech by an international cricketer, Gautam Gambir, who mentioned the hardships of people serving Indian Army.
