An Indian lawmaker belonging to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently sparked a controversy by demanding an explanation from Aligarh Muslim University over the presence of a portrait of Pakistan's founding father Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
BJP MP Satish Gautam in a letter to the Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor demanded Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to remove portrait of Quaid-e-Azam.
Days later Hindu groups barged into the university to protest the presence of the portrait.
Police used tear gas and resorted to baton charge to disperse the students of the university when they marched towards a police station to get a case registered against the attackers.
The demand from the BJP lawmaker has also sparked a debate on the social media.
While supporters of the ruling party have been backing the BJP MP, a large number of people has chosen to support the university.
Perhaps The most convincing response to the hatemongers came from a former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt who has over 350,000 followers on Twitter.
The former Officer shared a picture of statues of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Gandhi displayed at a Museum in Islamabad.
He captioned the picture with a convincing argument:
"This is a picture of Gandhi's statue at Islamabad's National Monuments Museum.
Jinnah did far more for the Indian Freedom Movement than the entire RSS put to together. He was a freedom fighter both India and Pakistan should be proud of.
We need to overcome and outgrow our hatred and ignorance".
According to university officials, the portrait was installed in 1938 before Partition, at the peak of Muslim League campaign for a separate nation for the Muslims of India.
Reacting to the demand, Students Union has said Jinnah and many other pre-Partition leaders were conferred honorary membership of the university and their portraits have been installed in the campus since 1920.
“Jinnah’s portrait was installed when he was conferred life membership (of the Students’ Union) in 1938. AMU has many things from the pre-Partition era like the Victoria Gate. Should that be brought down as well?” asked former AMU Students’ Union President Faizul Hasan.
“It is a tradition since 1920 to honour people of eminence with life membership. AMU first conferred it on Mahatma Gandhi in 1920 and on Jinnah in 1938," AMU spokesman Omar Peerzada told a news channel.