Jamia students shouldn’t fall into communal trap: Najeeb Jung

NEW DELHI - Calling for caution after anonymous letters with communal overtones were distributed on campus, Najeeb Jung, vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, says he has taken a serious note of the incident as it had the potential to disturb peace in the entire country.

“If anything happens in Jamia, it may well have repercussions in other parts of the country. I believe such elements are interested in disturbing peace in the nation,” Jung told IANS.

“We need to be vigilant and I don’t want my students to fall into this trap because we are a secular university and we will remain so,” he said. The 90-year-old varsity has over 18,000 students and was described as “one of the most progressive educational institutions of India” by Rabindranath Tagore.

Thousands of copies of a letter marked as confidential were circulated on the campus and its neighbourhood last week, shortly before Bakr-Eid Nov 17. Written in a provocative manner, it criticised the vice chancellor for lighting up the campus on Diwali and organising a ‘Diwali and Eid Milan’ Nov 10.

Jung believes an organisation, and not an individual, may be behind the act. “You cannot be an ordinary person to have that kind of money and do it. It is, in all likelihood, some subversive element,” Jung said.

“Somebody who goes and buys an envelope, puts a confidential stamp on it, has a letter printed out, sends out thousands of copies, must have spent at least Rs.30,000 or 40,000 on it.

“If you spend that kind of money, you are not an individual, it is not a disgruntled student, it is not a class four employee,” he said.

At the same time he did not blame any particular community for it.

“I am not blaming any community for it, it can be anyone and mischievous elements have no religion. I really believe the onus is on all of us to treat it seriously, have it investigated by the CID or local intelligence and bring these elements to book,” Jung added.

A complaint has been lodged at the Friends Colony Police Station and Jung has also written a letter to Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta over the letters.

(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)