'PM Selfless, Not Bothered by Criticism': What Ex-JNU Student Shehla Rashid Said About Modi, 'Change' in J&K

Once a strong critic of the BJP-led central government, Shehla Rashid — a former student activist from Jawaharlal Nehru University — on Thursday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being a “selfless man” working for national interest, and that he is someone who is unfazed by criticism.

Rashid, who was often seen as part of the “tukde tukde gang” and was trolled on social media for being an “anti-national”, said she is willing to apologise for her remarks against the Centre in the past because she relied on “second-hand information”.

Speaking to news agency ANI, she said the prime minister has taken “radical decisions at the cost of his popularity”. “Right now, we see a really well-intentioned administration. The prime minister — he doesn’t care about criticism. He has taken so many radical decisions, even at the cost of his popularity. He doesn’t care about criticism. He is a selfless man who works for the national interest,” she added.

Rashid also heaped in praise for union home minister Amit Shah and said he has “ensured peace in Kashmir” regardless of who was critical of him. She attributed the “change” in Jammu and Kashmir to Prime Minister Modi and Shah. “All of those things, somebody needed to break the ice, and for that, I would like to credit the present government, especially the prime minister and the home minister,” she was quoted as saying.

Also a vocal critic of the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, in July, the Supreme Court allowed Rashid to remove her name in the petitions against the revocation of special status. She told ANI that there were narratives on J&K, which were completely “out of touch with reality”.

“There’s a report in the US Congress, which is still asking for internet to be restored in J&K. You see how out of touch these narratives are with reality,” she added.

The former student leader said the union territory has witnessed infrastructural development while there is a perception of security as people can move around freely. “We have to understand that we are living through a historically important phase; there’s peace and development. We should be lucky that we’re in this country with what’s happening around the world. But, a lot of criticism of the government is done just for the sake of it,” she said, adding that communalism cannot go away overnight but her message should not be that there is discrimination in India.