BJP shouldn't give certificates of patriotism: MNS on JNU row

PUNE: MNS chief Raj Thackeray today said that the BJP should not issue "certificates of patriotism" by politicising the issue of alleged sedition in Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"While anti-national sloganeering in JNU has to be condemned, it is not for BJP to issue certificates of patriotism or treason," Thackeray said at a function here.

"The BJP has a lot to answer on its alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, where the state Assembly took a stance supporting the Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru.

"The party has struck an alliance with a party like PDP in J&K, and is parading its patriotic credentials outside," he said.

The leader added that the saffron party should not "politicise the issue to bring in its students' wing ABVP on the university campuses."