Jawahar Lal Nehru University organised a 'Tiranga march' on 23rd July for an advanced celebration of 'Kargil Divas' which actually falls on 26th July. Celebrating the occasion , the Vice-Chancellor of JNU, Jagadesh Kumar requested the government to install an Army tank on the campus to remind the students of the sacrifices of the soldiers and and instill love for the army.

The event was attended by Dharmendra Pradhan Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, cricketer Gautam Gambhir and members of Veteran India, an organisation of Army veterans.

The event started from the main gate of JNU and went on till the Convention Centre where the JNU faculty and students along with the kin of Kargil martyrs and members of Veterans India, carried a 2,200-feet-long tricolour for nearly two kilometres and paid their tributes at the Wall of Heroes - located in JNU's Convention Centre where 21 portraits of Param Vir Chakra awardees are exhibited.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kKd_VlBxDU

Veterans India's Retired Major Gen G D Bakshi spoke about how the Indian soldiers guard the nation's treacherous borders with Pakistan in extremely inhospitable weather conditions in Kashmir. He also condemned the events that took place in the Univesity on February 9, 2016, where a group of JNU students were accused of raising anti-India slogans on the campus at an event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and were booked for sedition. (indiatvnews.com)

Taking a jibe at the Left-leaning students in JNU he said, "See how we turned things around. We want to make them understand how people in the Army lay down their lives. Last year, what happened at JNU was a clear show of shamelessness by separatist forces.'' (hindustantimes.com)

Nationalist slogans echoed on a relatively empty JNU campus as a group of over 300 people walked, fluttering the tri-colour, from the main gate to the convention centre. (hindustantimes.com)

Saurabh Sharma, vice-president, ABVP called the march "historic" and said that JNU is now changing and that the students are finally understanding the meaning of true nationalism. (hindustantimes.com)

Amal, vice-president JNU Students Union, had a different reaction to the event and said that everyone has the right to conduct a program but they should also respect the right to dissent.

"They can hold their programmes and say what they wish but why have they been curtailing the voices of dissent. Each time we screen a film or hold an event that does not suit their agenda, they send notices to us. When we do not have a problem with them holding events, then why stop us? They call such events patriotic but they just use them as an opportunity to recruit people in RSS," he said.

(hindustantimes.com)

Why teach nationalism at JNU

Education and ideology can definitely go hand in hand. JNU has been known as a school of Marxian ideology. Students graduating from that school have been known to nurture the marxist school of thought. But in India, the present government has come to scoff the ideology of the left. It actively supports socialist capitalism. As a result, JNU has come under fire. The biggest resistance from the government came last year when the students of JNU protested against the judgement of the Supreme court that gave death sentence to Afzal Guru for the attack on the Indian parliament. During their protests, the students at JNU cast their doubts on the fair trial of Afzal Guru.

The organisers of this event Veteran India and JNU have taken it upon themselves to infuse 'their' nationalism in the students of JNU.

Jagadesh Kumar JNU VC

Jagadesh Kumar is associated with Vijnana Bharti, an RSS wing involved in the science movement. He had also attended a workshop organised by Vinjana Bharti. However, Kumar has denied his association with the RSS-led Vinjana Bharti. He said that it is a good organisation doing good work. It isn't without reason that a professor working on Nano technology would be appointed as a Vice Chancellor of a University focussing on social sciences.