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TIMES FACT CHECK

FACT CHECK: Indira Gandhi didn't force Sitaram Yechury to resign as

JNUSU president, make him apologise
Times Fact Check | Updated: Jan 11, 2020, 15:00 IST
 
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HIGHLIGHTS

A graphic card making various false claims about Sitaram Yechury and Indira Gandhi is
being widely shared by many social media users.

The graphic card claims Gandhi made Yechury resign as the president of JNU Students' Union
president and made him apologise for protesting against Emergency.

The photo used to make the various false claims is also out of context.

CLAIM
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Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai tweeted a graphic card that claims that in
1975, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi entered the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) with Delhi Police and forced then JNU Students' Union (JNUSU)
 
...
President Sitaram Yechury to resign from the post and made him apologise for A A
protesting against Emergency. Yechury is now CPM general secretary.
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 The graphic card Pai tweeted says the incident happened in 1975 during Emergency
in India and carries a photo showing Yechury reading out something in front of a
crowd, standing beside Gandhi.

We found many social media users sharing both the graphic card, and the photo
used in it individually, with more or less the same claim.
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TRUTH
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The claims made in the graphic card are false.

VERIFICATION AND METHODOLOGY

 
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 Times Fact Check reached out to Sitaram Yechury who dismissed all the claims
made in the graphic card that is now being shared as "Completely false".

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CLAIM 1

Indira Gandhi entered JNU with Delhi Police and thrashed Sitaram Yechury in 1975.

We couldn't find any reports from credible media houses that said Gandhi entered
the JNU campus to thrash Yechury. As per his profile on the CPM official website,
Yechury was underground, organising resistance against Emergency, during 1975,
before he was arrested. A Hindustan Times report said he had dodged arrest for
six months before finally being picked up by police.

Talking to Times Fact Check, Yechury said, "All through Emergency, Indira Gandhi
could not enter JNU. In fact, they had to shift a meeting that was scheduled inside
JNU because we had said we wouldn't let her enter the campus."

On asking if he was arrested from inside the JNU campus, Yechury said, "I was
arrested from my home. I spent the previous night with my parents."

CLAIM 2

Indira Gandhi forced Yechury to resign as the JNUSU president in 1975, made him
apologise for protesting against Emergency

This is false. Yechury became JNUSU president only in 1977, after Emergency. A
report published in The Indian Express on veteran leader DP Tripathi said when
Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, Tripathi was JNUSU president.
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 Yechury's profile on CPM website says he had in 1975 completed MA in Economics
from JNU and enrolled himself for a PhD there, which he could not complete due to
his arrest. After Emergency, in 1977, Yechury was elected as the JNUSU president.

We couldn't find any credible media report that said Gandhi made Yechury
apologise for organising resistance against Emergency. Contrary to these false
claims made in the graphic card, it was a student agitation led by Yechury that
forced
Start Gandhi
your to resign
day smart as the chancellor of JNU.
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CLAIM 3
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Photo shows Yechury apologising to Indira Gandhi in 1975 for protesting against
Emergency

This is a false claim. The photo was clicked on September 5, 1977 after Emergency
was lifted. JNU students, under then JNUSU President Yechury's leadership,
marched to Gandhi's residence and raised slogans there. Gandhi, along with Om
Mehta, who was home minister during Emergency, came out to meet the students
after 15 minutes.

Yechury then read out a memorandum that listed JNUSU's demands and detailed
the crimes her government committed against citizens during Emergency. This
photo was clicked then and it is credited to Hindustan Times. JNUSU demanded
Gandhi's resignation as the chancellor of JNU, and she did, after this protest march
led by Yechury.

VERDICT

Times Fact Check has found the claims that Indira Gandhi, during Emergency,
forced Sitaram Yechury to resign as the president of JNU and made him apologise
for protesting against Emergency to be false. We also found that the photo used to
make these claims was actually clicked when Yechury led a student agitation to
Gandhi's residence to demand her resignation as JNU chancellor.

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