Accusing Congress and the Left of trying to give a "different colour" to happenings on some campuses, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said freedom of expression does not mean liberty to advocate disintegration of the country. "I am surprised about the efforts made by the Congress and the Left to give a different colour to the issues that are happening in a few universities saying it is an assault on freedom of expression," Naidu told reporters here. He claimed certain "misguided" sections were trying to mislead the young population and create social tensions, and hurt the sentiments of the people of India. "Where is the question of not having the freedom of expression? It is guaranteed under the Constitution," Naidu said. He said there were also certain reasonable restrictions on freedom of expression in place. "You cannot hurt others' religious feeling, you cannot question the nation's unity and integrity. You cannot advocate separatism. Dissent, having a different opinion apart from the majority opinion is agreeable but not disintegration. Nobody can advocate disintegration. What is azaadi? What is azaadi of Kashmir?" Naidu said. His comments came in the backdrop of a political slugfest following last week's clashes between activists of RSS-affiliated ABVP and Left-backed AISA over a seminar invite to JNU student Umar Khalid, an accused in a sedition case. The ABVP, Naidu said is a "nationalistic organisation", adding those who have different views can also express their them but asked "why should outsiders go and disturb the peace of campuses." "How can anybody advocate azaadi for Jammu and Kashmir?" the senior minister asked noting the Parliament had passed a resolution that the whole of J&K, including PoK, was part of India. "You want to make universities laboratories for separatist experiments? There is a systematic effort going on - you want to have anniversary for Afzal Guru, who was responsible (for) and spearheaded the attack on Parliament, the temple of democracy. And then you appeal to others that freedom of expression is affected," he said. Attacking the Congress, Naidu said the people who had imposed Emergency, put restrictions on fundamental rights, people who put entire opposition behind bars and imposed censorship on the media are now giving sermons on freedom of expression. "The Congress imposed Emergency while the Left supported the black deeds of Emergency," he said. Naidu, however, emphasised that the government does not support any violent activity. He attacked the Congress, saying it has been in alliance with sectarian forces. "You had an alliance with the Muslim League. You had alliance with extremist forces, you are aligned with Leftists and you are creating, inciting violence," Naidu alleged. The minister alleged Congress leaders visited campuses to "incite violence", apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi's visit to the JNU and Hyderabad Central University following controversies over an event to comemmorate Afzal Guru's hanging and in the aftermath of suicide by Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula respectively. Hitting out at political rivals, Naidu said they were frustrated because a majority of people had rejected their ideology and philosophy. "They are frustrated and trying to mislead young minds by this sort of arguments. There are more than 7000 institutions in the country but you try to create disturbance in a few universities by raking up castiest, communal or separatist issues," the I&B minister said. There is a systematic effort to tarnish the image of the government, he said. He said there was so much freedom of speech in the country that even the Prime Minister can be called names. Responding to a question, Naidu said that the critics of the government had double standards was exposed by their silence when Taslima Nasreen, Salman Rushdie and Tarek Fateh came under attack by hardliners. "Even the UP chief minister has said that he had made the donkey statement in the context of Holi. You may have seen the papers that 15,000 tourists visit to watch donkeys in Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. "You make comments out of disappointment and then are forced to give clarifications..You are losing the battle in Uttar Pradesh very badly. You have seen in Maharashtra, Odisha where the Congress party is becoming a marginal party, from a national party to a notional party," he added.
