IANS
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 13
A day after JNU Student’s Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in connection with a case of sedition, seven more students from the university have been detained.
The students, who face the same charges as Kanhaiya, have been taken to the Parliament Street police station for questioning in connection with the case.
The Delhi Police had on Friday late evening written to the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) demanding his cooperation in nabbing rest of the students who they claimed were absconding.
The police had given five more names to the court while seeking Kanhaiya’s custody on Friday. The students included Umar Khalid, one of the organisers of the Afzal Guru event in the campus and Rama Naga, a member of JNUSU.
Meanwhile, a group of ex-servicemen, alumni of JNU have expressed anguish over the recent spate of events and written to the VC regarding returning of their degrees.
Kejriwal orders probe
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the JNU incident where anti-India slogans are said to have been raised.
The announcement was made soon after a delegation of political leaders met Kejriwal and requested him to launch a probe to establish the authenticity of the evidence in the incident.
“There are claims that JNU student leaders shouted anti-India slogans and counter claims that ABVP activists did it. To find truth, Delhi government is directing District Magistrate (DM) to conduct an enquiry,” Kejriwal tweeted.
A delegation that included CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI national secretary D. Raja and Janata Dal-United secretary general K.C. Tyagi on Saturday met Kejriwal and demanded an independent inquiry in the matter.
Prostitutes better than anti-nationals
IANS adds from Gurgaon: Stirring up the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issue, Jawahar Yadav, officer on sp ecial duty (OSD) to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on Saturday said prostitutes were better than the women who raised anti-national slogans at the university.
Yadav, who is also the chairman of the Haryana Housing Board, tweeted: “Women in JNU, who were chanting anti-national slogans, for those, I will only say that prostitutes are better than all of you, they sell their body not the nation.”
JNU students on Tuesday had organised a meet on the campus to mourn the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) co-founder Maqbool Bhat, where anti-India slogans were raised.
Rahul Gandhi go back
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday evening shown black flags during his visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus to meet students protesting for the release of Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar.
The protestors also raised slogans of “Rahul Gandhi go back” in the varsity.
Reacting to the protests against him, the Congress vice president said, “People who showed black flag on my face, I feel proud that in my country they have the right to show black flag in front of my face”.
Earlier on Saturday, amid the raging JNU row, home minister Rajnath Singh asserted that the guilty “will not be spared” as Left leaders met him questioning police action against students including the arrest of the student union leader.
“No question of harassment of students. But the guilty will not be spared,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Delhi.
The Home Minister’s statement came after a delegation of Left and JD(U) leaders met him demanding release of JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar. After meeting the Home Minister, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was joined by CPI national secretary D Raja and JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi, alleged that the new vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University was acting on the instructions of the government and allowed the police to go ahead with a “crackdown”.
Congress leader Anand Sharma was attacked on Saturday by unknown assailants while participating at a protest meet held at Jawaharlal Nehru University against the police crackdown in the campus on Friday.
Eyewitnesses said Sharma was repeatedly struck on his ear by an assailant which led to profuse bleeding.
The JNU Students Union (JNUSU) soon issued a statement condemning the attack, and alleged that it was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist who assaulted the former union minister.
The senior Congress leader had gone to the JNU campus to meet the protesting students who have been agitating against the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans during an event on the campus. JNUSU denies allegations that any of its members raised any such slogans.
Prior to the incident, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi addressed the students criticising the police crackdown.
Around 2,000 people including students, teachers and others gathered in front of administration block of the campus protesting against the arrest of JNUSU president.
ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, also staged a counter-protest, shouting slogans including “Rahul Gandhi go back.”
Meanwhile JNU student union declared strike in university from Monday.
