Three students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, accused of sedition, on Friday questioned the double standards of the BJP government at the Centre. JNUSU general secretary Rama Naga, Ashutosh Kumar and Anant Prakash said if they are being called anti-nationals for shouting seditious slogans questioning hanging of Afzal Guru, then why is the BJP allying with the PDP, which has always opposed his execution.
Former JNUSU president Ashutosh Kumar said, “Can the BJP charge the PDP with sedition for its stand on Afzal Guru. If even thinking about Guru makes a student seditious, why do they have an alliance with the PDP in Kashmir, which has always opposed the hanging of Afzal Guru and even was party to a resolution brought in the state Assembly against his execution.”
Mr Naga, Mr Kumar and Mr Prakash are among the five students who returned to the campus 10 days after JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest on sedition charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans during the controversial February 9 event.
Former JNUSU vice-president Anant Prakash said, “We are not receiving fellowships on time and they talk about us receiving foreign funding for ‘seditious’ events on the campus. Even if they consider any activity to be unconstitutional or unlawful, they can condemn it, but not criminalise.”
“The entire country’s energy and time is being wasted by using the top machinery for spying against students debating on the campus. If we stand opposite to their ideology then they should bring us in mainstream like they did with the PDP. How funny it is that they don’t share the ideology but can share the power ” he added.
The three students had resurfaced in the JNU campus on Sunday night along with Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who have been sent to three days police remand by a city court after their midnight surrender and subsequent arrest in the case.
Reiterating their stand of not surrendering to the police, Mr Naga said, “We have not been issued any summons, so why should we surrender. We have communicated to the police about our whereabouts and that we are open to questioning.”
