JNU welcomes UGC’s ‘surgical strike day’ circular

New Delhi, September 21

Jawaharlal Nehru University on Friday welcomed a University Grants Commission (UGC) circular asking varsities and higher educational institutions across the country to observe September 29 as "surgical strike day", while Jamia Millia Islamia said it would "finalise the programme on Monday".

The controversial UGC circular issued on Thursday has triggered a political row with the ruling TMC in West Bengal saying it will not be followed in the state and joined the Congress to allege the move was part of BJP's political agenda but the Centre asserted this reflected patriotism and not politics.

JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar welcomed the move.

"Observation of 'surgical strike day' on 29th September 2018 by Universities is a welcome move to pay our tributes to the armed forces. JNU is proud of our defence forces as the officers who graduate from India's six major defence institutes are our alumni," he posted on Twitter.

A spokesperson from Jamia Millia Islamia said the programme will be finalised on Monday.

"As per the circular of UGC, programmes will be organised by the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) on September 29. NCC and NSS units will finalise the programme on Monday," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, sources in Delhi University said they received the circular late on Thursday, and Friday being a gazetted holiday, a call will be taken on Monday on how to go about it.

Taking a dig at the government, JNU Students' Union president N Sai Balaji said the BJP-led dispensation believes in jumlas (rhetoric) and 'hamla' (attack).

"There is a surgical strike happening on the common man due to rising petrol and diesel prices and on women and marginalised communities. The biggest surgical strike happened on November 8, 2016, in the form of demonetisation after which several small businesses were shut down, many people lost their lives and jobs.

"The Rafale deal was awarded to a corporate after being taken away from a PSU (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) which could have generated employment. Why are we not celebrating these surgical strikes. This government only indulges in jumlas and hamla," he said. — PTI