JNU battle plays out in court as lawyers attack students, media

Supporters of students' president were allegedly manhandled and forced out of Patiala House court by lawyers.

New Delhi:

At least six persons, including students and journalists, were thrashed on Monday by a group of men in lawyer's robes inside and outside a Patiala House court where the sedition case against JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was to be heard.

A scuffle broke out before the court took up the hearing, as some men, said to be lawyers, entered the court room and allegedly started pushing out students and teachers, mostly from JNU, and media persons, asking them to leave the premises.

\"You (JNU) produce anti-nationals and terrorists. You should get out of the country. Long live India, shut down JNU,\" they shouted and then pushed the students and teachers out.

\"When the proceedings were going on, some people wearing lawyers' gowns first started hurling abuses at us. And then suddenly some of them, without any provocation, started beating us badly. They pushed us and beat us up including women students,\" AISF President Waliullah Qadri told reporters.

A BJP MLA, who had come to the court complex in connection with the hearing in the defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, allegedly roughed up Ameeque Jamai, said to be a CPI activist.

The students and teachers refused to go out of the court room and said they have a right to attend the proceedings as it was an open court hearing. At least three students were thrashed by the group of men.

The group also began to check the identity cards of media persons and asked them also to leave the court room. The media persons objected to their demand and refused to move out of the court room when they were attacked by the men, who accused the media persons of being JNU supporters and accused them of wrong reporting.

Two print and electronic media reporters were injured. There was heavy police deployment in the court complex, but the students alleged that they did not take any action against this group.

The policemen later drove all the students, teachers and mediapersons out of the court complex.

Kanhaiya was arrested last week over an event held in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

While the teachers on Sunday extended solidarity with the students over the controversy, they have not joined the strike yet. Kanhaiya, who was sent to three-day police custody, will be produced in court today.

Vice Chancellor Jadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not resort to strikes and protests so that academic functioning of the university is not hampered.

\"We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. We are reaching out to the entire JNU community to see how the problem can be addressed but academic functioning of the university is of prime importance and should not be hampered,\" he told reporters.

While the teachers association of the university have raised questions over the VC allowing a police crackdown on campus, Kumar said he was bound with the \"law of land\".

\"I never invited the police to enter the campus and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per the law of land. We were bound to do so,\" he added.

JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested last week in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised.

His arrest has triggered widespread outrage among students and teachers and drawn severe criticism from non-BJP political parties.

The university teachers had on Sunday rallied behind its protesting students and questioned the administration's decision to allow the police crackdown on the campus even as they appealed to the public not to \"brand\" the institution as \"anti-national\".

Teachers bodies of 40 central universities and Pune-based FTII had also come out in support of the agitating students saying it is an issue of \"indiscipline\" and not \"sedition\".