Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan praised JNU on Friday for launching a counter-terrorism course, just days after the university drew criticism for it. On Thursday, the executive council of Jawaharlal Nehru University approved a new counter-terrorism course that had been criticized by certain academics and students due to its content.
"JNU deserves appreciation, I extend my wishes to Vice-Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar for starting such a course. When top global universities like MIT can have discourse and debate on terrorism and counter-terrorism, why cannot our varsities do the same," Pradhan said during a meeting with vice-chancellors.
He said a fellow parliamentarian had written to him on the JNU course. He, however, did not name the parliamentarian. "During my interaction with US security experts, I understood how the internet and cyber world will be used increasingly for terrorism activities. Why cannot our students, engineering students learn this.