Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that the protesting students of Jawaharlal Nehru University had the support of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed.

Speaking to reporters, Rajnath Singh said, ” Unfortunate that JNU incident has been supported by LeT Chief Hafiz Saeed. Nation must also accept the reality that incident that took place in JNU,has been supported by LeT Chief Hafiz Saeed. Nobody should try to achieve political benefits from such incidents.

“I have given clear instruction that strict action must be taken against anyone who’s found guilty but innocent people must not be harassed.”

However, Singh’s extraordinary statement that Saeed extended his support to the protesting students of the JNU was reportedly based on a fake tweet posted from a parody account of Hafiz Saeed on 12 February.

This tweet was widely used by the RSS supporters to vilify the left leaning students of the JNU.

Delhi police too used this tweet to go on the social media platform to warn students ‘not to get carried away’ by seditious message. It asked the social media users to share this tweet widely.

Opposition parties have slammed Singh for comments on Saeed.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “What is happening is extremely dangerous.”

What is happening is extremely dangerous https://t.co/XiemmkZOWb — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 14, 2016

Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the CPIM, said, “The Union Home Minister has made a very serious allegation about terrorists ‘backing’ JNU protests. We hope that he has concrete proof.”

The Union Home Minister has made a very serious allegation about terrorists 'backing' JNU protests. We hope that he has concrete proof. — Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) February 14, 2016

Former Chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, too asked Singh to prove his claim on Hafiz Saeed backing the JNU protests.

He tweeted, “The Home Minister must go public with the evidence collected that enabled him to level this charge against the # JNU students # HafizSaeed”

The Home Minister must go public with the evidence collected that enabled him to level this charge against the #JNU students #HafizSaeed — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 14, 2016

Social media users have been quick to condemn and mock the home minister for his ‘atrocious’ comment on the ongoing controversy.

Here are some tweets;

Mr @HMOIndia its a fake account.. #HafizSaeed. Is this govt gormless or simply ghoulish? — Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) February 14, 2016

A fake Twitter handle of Hafiz Saeed being cited and then used by home minister? Banana republic or what?? Some rationality please. — Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 14, 2016

Sanghi parody accounts have become a serious threat to the Government that has started relying on them for news. ? — Halal Khan (@brumbyoz) February 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/DrunkVinodMehta/status/698813886842077184

Rajnath Singh calling #JNUCrackdown students backed by Hafiz Saeed… This Modi Sarkar lost it completely — Asna (@asnasays) February 14, 2016

When the Home Minister of a country quotes from a fake twitter handle, you know where is our internal security headed. Somebody call the NSA — Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) February 14, 2016

As I keep saying, may The Great Humanist save India… https://t.co/zCC2FIEjnO — Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) February 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/RizviUzair/status/698818908443160576

Seculars are mocking Rajnath Singh for quoting fake Hafiz Saeed handle.

Irony is yesterday same people were RTing the fake ABVP video clip — goDODOgo (@goDODOgo00) February 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/AzamKhaj/status/698518122869882880

More to come