Cornering the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the remarks made by Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju in connection with the recent tussle between Left-affiliated AISA and the RSS-backed ABVP, the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Monday said that the saffron outfit is trying to intimidate people who are against its policies.

Retorting to Rijiju's statement that 'anyone who wants to break India and supports terrorists can be branded as an "anti-national", CPI leader D Raja urged the BJP to put an end to such hate campaign.

"Not only Kiren Rijiju but all BJP ministers starting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are trying to intimidate the whole nation. They should stop this hate campaign," Raja told ANI.

"The BJP must realize that they are trying to intimidate citizens who criticize the government and its policies. They are trying to dub them as anti-nationals and scare them," he added.

Amidst the ongoing row over the clashes between AISA and the ABVP in Delhi University's North Campus, Rijiju yesterday said that nobody has the absolute right to define nationalism but anyone who wants to break India and supports terrorists can be called an 'anti-national'.

He also said under the guise of freedom of expression even some students fantasize about breaking India.

"Nobody has the absolute right to define nationalism but anybody who wants to break India, supports Afzal Guru and terrorists is anti-national," he said in a tweet.

--ANI