As some Harvard alumni launched an online campaign to drop Union Minister Jayant Sinha from Harvard University’s alumni status, Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday came out in support of the online campaign. He attacked Jayant Sinha for felicitating the lynching convicts.
Sharing the link of the online petition that seeks the withdrawal of alumni status from the Minister Sinha, Gandhi tweeted “If the sight of a highly educated MP & Central Minister, Jayant Sinha, garlanding & honouring criminals convicted of lynching an innocent man, fills you with disgust, click on the link & support this petition”.
If the sight of a highly educated MP & Central Minister, Jayant Sinha, garlanding & honouring criminals convicted of lynching an innocent man, fills you with disgust, click on the link & support this petition.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 10, 2018
Sign Petition:https://t.co/K9CrzHbNOz via @ChangeOrg_India
Gandhi was critical of Sinha’s actions saying that the politics of hatred and communal polarization is irreparably damaging our social fabric.
One of the Harvard University’s alumni Prateek Kanwal launched the online petition after Sinha garlanded the convicts of Ramgarh lynching when they came out on bail. Those eight men were convicted for the lynching of cattle trader Alimuddin Ansari.
“These actions by the Minister have shocked the nation and brought disrepute to our great institution. As a responsible citizen of this country and as an Alumni of Harvard I strongly condemn these actions and ask the Harvard University to withdraw his Alumni status,” Kanwal said in the petition launched on change.org.
Writing to Lawrence Bacow, President of Hardvard University, Kanwal said “Harvard’s name is being sullied in India, on account of its association with Mr Sinha.” He also urged the Hardvard president to condemn the actions by the Union Minister, saying “Sinha’s callous and insensitive actions have generated tremendous anger in India”.