NEW DELHI (The Statesman/ANN) - A student leader of the premier Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi was arrested for a campus demo protesting the hanging the terror mastermind Afzal Guru.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students' union chief Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested today in a sedition case over an event at the campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, sparking outrage among students and criticism from non-BJP parties which dubbed it as an “emergency-like” situation. Meanwhile, after receiving an interim report from its disciplinary committee probing the involvement of the students at the event, the JNU debarred eight students from academic activities pending a disciplinary inquiry.
Earlier in the day, Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Rajnath Singh had advocated strong action against those who were involved in the alleged “anti-India” act even as the students continued with their protests on the campus for the third day, saying they are being “witchhunted”. The students said their parents are asking them to quit the university in view of the “vitiated atmosphere”.
Kanhaiya, arrested a day after police filed a sedition and criminal conspiracy case on complaints from BJP MP Maheish Girri and ABVP members, was later remanded in three-day police custody by a local court.
fter the arrest, varsity students and teachers protested outside the V-C's office demanding the administration's.
the administration's intervention in the manner in which students are being compared to “terrorists” and picked up from the campus by policemen. Equating the events with an “emergencylike situation”, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said, “The question is that do you know who raised the slogans? When you don't know then how are you arresting all the student leaders?".