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  India   Crackdown at JNU sets off huge storm

Crackdown at JNU sets off huge storm

AGE CORRESPONDENTS
Published : Feb 13, 2016, 5:37 am IST
Updated : Feb 13, 2016, 5:37 am IST

Student leader held as Rajnath tells cops: ‘Take strongest possible action’

JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar
 JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar

Student leader held as Rajnath tells cops: ‘Take strongest possible action’

JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on Friday after the Delhi police slapped a sedition case for an event held on Tuesday at the university’s campus over the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. A case under Sections 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC was registered against some unknown persons at the Vasant Kunj (North) police station after complaints by BJP MP Mahesh Giri and the ABVP.

In a simultaneous move, former Delhi University lecturer S.A.R. Geelani was also booked for sedition for an event at the Press Club of India in New Delhi, where a group of people had shouted slogans hailing Afzal Guru.

Also, eight students have been debarred from academic activities by the university administration pending a disciplinary inquiry into the event on Tuesday. The university, however, did not identify them.

“Considering the seriousness of the incidents, and in order to enable a fair inquiry, the committee has debarred the eight students

from academic activities with immediate effect during the pendency of the inquiry,” JNU vice-chancellor Jagdeesh Kumar said. “However, to permit them represent their stand for a fair investigation, they will be allowed to stay in their respective hostels as a guest, during the period of the inquiry.”

The crackdown came hours after Union home minister Rajnath Singh warned Friday of the “strongest possible” action against those raising anti-India slogans, saying that such activities “will not be tolerated”. HRD minister Smriti Irani also denounced the protests, saying the nation will never tolerate any “insult” to Mother India.

“If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the country’s unity and integrity, they will not be spared. The stringent action will be taken against them,” the home minister told reporters. Mr Singh said he had asked the Delhi police to take the “strongest possible action” against those allegedly involved in anti-India activities at the JNU campus.

Hours later, two policemen in plainclothes arrived at the JNU campus on Friday and picked up Mr Kumar for questioning. He was later arrested, sources said. He has been remanded to three days in police custody.

JNU students and teachers protested outside the vice-chancellor’s office on Friday, demanding intervention over the manner in which students are being compared to “terrorists” and picked up from campus by policemen in plainclothes.

The JNU Teachers’ Association condemned the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar as an “uncalled for” action. “This could be a disciplinary issue, but how can it be a case of sedition The action against the students is uncalled for. The way students are being randomly picked up from the campus is very unfortunate at a university which is widely known for its democratic ethos,” JNUTA secretary Vikramaditya said.

The arrests triggered massive outrage among the Left and other non-BJP parties, besides students’ outfits, which dubbed it an “Emergency-like situation” and an attempt by the BJP-led NDA government to “silence all dissent in premier educational institutions”. The Left parties called it a “long-harboured design of the RSS” to clamp down on the “progressive and democratic students’ movement”.

After Mr Kumar’s arrest, the university’s students and teachers protested outside the JNU vice-chancellor’s office demanding the administration’s intervention into the manner in which students were being compared to “terrorists” and picked up from campus by policemen in plainclothes.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said “the BJP is turning the country into an Emergency-like state” and demanded that the law be allowed to take its own course. He demanded to know on what basis the arrest was made by the Delhi police. “The question is: do you know who raised the slogans Take action under the law against them. But when you don’t know, how are you taking action ” He added: “The male police are going, raiding the girls’ hostels... Only during the Emergency we saw this happen. That is the sort of Emergency state they are reducing our country to again. This time it is the BJP.”

Questioning the filing of a sedition case, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said it was a very serious charge and the BJP government should think twice before taking action under it. “This could be a disciplinary issue, but how can it be a case of sedition The action against the students is uncalled for. The way students are being randomly picked up from campus is very unfortunate at a university that is widely known for its democratic ethos,” said Vikramaditya, secretary of the JNU Teachers Association.

Trouble is brewing for the government in the forthcoming Budget Session as the Left parties have decided to take up the issue in Parliament. Demanding the immediate release of Mr Kumar and other leaders of Left-backed outfits, CPI national secretary D. Raja said the Delhi police action was “illegal and uncalled for”. The Left parties alleged the police was launching “indiscriminate raids” in the hostels.

The CPI(M) accused the Narendra Modi government of resorting to “totally dictatorial” measures to “crush” the Left-backed students’ organisations and promote pro-RSS organisations in campuses “as was done” at Hyderabad Central University, which was “shameful”, the party said in a Facebook post. The CPI(M) also targeted the home minister, saying it was “shameful” for him to intervene in the matter “directly”.

ABVP members staged a protest march at India Gate seeking the expulsion of the accused students from the university, after which 90 of them were detained and taken to the Parliament Street police station.

The JNU administration has instituted a “disciplinary” inquiry on how the event took place despite withdrawal of permission . The permission to hold the event had been cancelled after a complaint by ABVP members, who said the activity was “anti-national”. Protests by JNU students continued on the campus for the third day on Friday, with many alleging they were being “witch-hunted”. Some of the students said their parents were asking them to quit the campus in view of the “vitiating atmosphere” at JNU. On its part, the JNU administration said the university had the right to hold free debates but condemned its use as a platform for activities that violated the Constitution and the law of the land. “While the JNU community upholds the right to free debate on campus, the university strongly condemns its use as a platform for activities that violate the Constitution and the laws of the land. However, there could be aberrations where fringe sections misuse the freedom provided,” newly-appointed JNU vice-chancellor Jagdeesh Kumar said.

On the FIR slapped against Mr Geelani and others, the Delhi police officials said: “We are monitoring the video footage and trying to ascertain the identity of those who were involved in anti-India sloganeering. We will question several individuals present at the event. It may be recalled that Mr Geelani was acquitted by the Delhi high court in October 2003 in the Parliament attack case, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2005, which at the same time observed the needle of suspicion still pointed towards him.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi