Lucknow: BJP MP Satish Gautam has asked the vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to take down the portrait of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan from the office of the AMU Students’ Union.
“It is fine if Jinnah is revered in Pakistan after Partition but his portrait should not be put up here in India. The university should instead celebrate the contributions of Raja Mahendra Pratap and Sir Syed Ahmed who played a crucial role in establishing the university”, said the BJP MP.
The portrait was installed in 1938 before Partition, at the peak of Muslim League campaign for a separate nation for the Muslims of India.
AMU Students’ Union, however, claims that Jinnah, like many other pre-Partition leaders, were conferred honorary membership of the varsity and their portraits have been in the campus since 1920.
