AMU row: Haryana Finance Minister wants varsity named after 'Jat king'

Amid a row over Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait on Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus, Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu today demanded the varsity be named after 'Jat king Mahendra Pratap Singh'.

"I demand AMU should be named after Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh," the Haryana minister said addressing a gathering at a ground-breaking ceremony of a Jat Dharamsala in Rewari.

The Haryana minister claimed Mahendra Pratap Singh had "donated" the land for the varsity. Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh's contribution in the field of education cannot be forgotten, he added.

Jinnah, he said, "was responsible for destroying the integrity of the nation. His portrait is displayed in the varsity, but till today no picture of Raja Mahendra Pratap has been installed there".

Earlier this month, a number of groups protested against the portrait of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah being hung at the AMU student union's office.

The matter grabbed headlines first after Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Aligarh MP Satish Gautam questioned the portrait's presence in the office.

Soon after, AMU Vice-Chancellor Professor Tariq Mansoor dubbed the Jinnah portrait controversy as a 'non-issue' and underscored that latter's portrait is also present at the Bombay High Court and the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat.