Kanhaiya wrongly labelled anti-national: Uddhav

In a veiled attack on the Narendra Modi government, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said on Sunday that instead of guiding the youth in the right direction, it has ‘given birth’ to Rohith Vemula, Hardik Patel and Kanhaiya Kumar, the youth figures who have been in news in the last few months.

India has a big population of youths. Instead of giving them proper guidance and directions, the government is ‘misleading’ them, he said and cited the examples of Rohit Vemula (Dalit scholar who committed suicide in HyderabadUniversity), Hardik Patel (Gujarat Patel quota stir leader who is in jail) and JawaharlalNehruUniversity student leader Kanhaiya Kumar (who has been charged with sedition).

“Kanhaiya Kumar has been labelled deshdrohi (anti-national) wrongly,” Thackeray said.

He, however, did not name the Bharatiya Janta Party or the Modi government.

The Modi government has come under attack over the way it has handled the issues related to these three youths.

When Patel became popular, he was charged with sedition, and now Kumar is fighting against the government, Uddhav said, and asked, “Who gave birth to these youths?”

Youths of the country required proper guidance and direction and it is not wrong to give advice to our friend (the BJP) with whom we have an alliance, he told reporters in Nashik.

“We will oppose any bifurcation of Maharashtra,” the Sena leader said in the backdrop of ongoing debate on separate Vidarbha.

With inputs from ANI