Jinnah-portrait row: Internet services suspended, Section 144 imposed in Aligarh
The Aligarh Administration announced, on Friday, that internet services will remain suspended from 2:00 PM to 12:00 AM Saturday, in the wake of protests over Mohammed Ali Jinnah's portrait in Aligarh Muslim University. ADM (City) SB Singh said this was done to prevent circulation of communal messages on social media websites. Section 144 was also imposed in the town.
On Thursday, the sight at AMU's main gate-- Baab-e-Sayyad was unlike any other day as over 5,000 students staged a protest demanding action against Hindu groups. Hindu Yuva Vahini and ABVP clashed with students, with the groups asking removal of Jinnah's portrait from the university's campus. The students accused police of inaction and AMUSU president Mashkoor Ahmed Usmani called it a planned attack.
The students of the prestigious university shouted 'We want justice' and 'Say no to fascist forces'. Meanwhile, a right-wing leader Amit Goswami set a 48-hour deadline to remove the portrait, failing which he claimed to arrive with 1,000 people, to get the task done himself. The violent clashes in the Western UP town injured 41, including 28 students and 13 policemen.
Wading into the controversy, that is centered on a 138-year-old portrait of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Samajwadi Party leader Praveen Nishad said, "The way Nehru and Gandhi contributed to free India, the same way Jinnah also has equal contribution in country's freedom." Notably, UP CM Yogi Adityanath held Jinnah responsible for country's partition and said his glorification was out of the question.
