Bengaluru: Noted playwright and actor Girish Karnad on Friday joined the protest against the arrest of JNU student, Kanhaiya Kumar, in Delhi for his “anti-national” speech on campus.
Participating in a peaceful protest by writers , artists and student organizations here to show solidarity with the arrested student leader, Karnad said, “Kanhaiya had done no wrong. It only becomes an offence if it leads to violence. In his case there was none. It was not right to arrest him simply for expressing his views,” he asserted.
“Expressing one’s opinion should not invite sedition charges. In 1961 Annadurai wanted to separate Tamil Nadu from the rest of the country and he expressed his opinion freely in Parliament. No action was taken against him then, so why now?” he asked, warning that the RSS and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) would be responsible if India “was divided into pieces” in future.
Journalist and activist, Gauri Lankesh, said the current debate on who was a nationalist and who was not was meaningless. “What we need to discuss and debate are important matters affecting the country like how we can improve the quality of life for its people,” she said.
Like Karnad, a professor, Dr Sushi Kadanakuppe , stressed that free thought was very important in modern society. "If any act goes against the Constitution then we should oppose it, not otherwise . We cannot brand people as anti-national if they are merely expressing their views about something," he underlined.
Condemning the recent attacks on students in Delhi, the protestors gathered at the Town Hall, chanted 'I am JNU' and 'I am democracy, ' as activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) , the Democratic Youth and other left leaning student organisations joined them in support of the JNU students.
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Meanwhile, members of the Bengaluru Press Club, Bengaluru Reporters Guild, Karnataka Union of Working Journalists and Karnataka Photo Journalists Association demanded stern action against those who attacked journalists at the Patiala House court in Delhi. Taking out a rally from the Press Club to Rajbhavan, they gave a memorandum to the Governor seeking immediate action.
Pesident of the Press Club, Sridhar said it was unfortunate that journalists were attacked for merely doing their job.They should be given adequate security, he added.
