New Delhi: JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on Friday after the Delhi police slapped a sedition case for an event held earlier 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.
Read: JNU student’s union president sent to 3-day police custody
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 Delhi, where a group of people had shouted slogans hailing Afzal Guru.
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 said the nation will never tolerate any “insult” to Mother India.
Read: Nation won't tolerate insult to Mother India: Smriti Irani on JNU row
Emergency-like situation: Left
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh commenting on the ongoing controversy at the Jawaharlal Nehru University said, “If anyone raises anti-India slogans, tries to raise questions on the country’s unity and integrity, they will not be spared. Stringent action will be taken against them.”
The minister 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.
Read: Anti-India acts won't be tolerated, says Rajnath Singh on JNU row
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.
CPM 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 is very unfortunate at a university that is known for its democratic ethos,” said Vikramaditya, secretary of the JNU Teachers Association.Trouble is brewing for the government in the Budget Session as the Left parties have decided to take up the issue. Demanding immediate release of Mr Kumar and other leaders of Left-backed outfits, CPI national secretary D. Raja said Delhi Police action was “illegal and uncalled for”. The Left parties alleged the police was launching “indiscriminate raids” in the hostels.
