JNU rallies behind 5, says no to surrender

The JNU campus stood firm on Monday behind all five students, charged in the sedition case, who had resurfaced at the campus on Sunday night.

JNU students and teachers appealed to vice-chancellor M. Jagdish Kumar to take a firm stand for the five students. All through Monday, a human chain of JNU security guards, teachers, students and others stood guard at the uni-

The five students — Umer Khalid, Anirban, Rama Naga, Anant Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar — had resurfaced at the campus on Sunday versity administrative block where the five had taken refuge.

A delegation of 300-odd faculty members also met the V-C demanding the withdrawal of sedition and criminal charges against all the students accused of allegedly raising anti-national slogans at an event to mark the anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s execution.

Under severe attack over the handling of the JNU row, Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi, after briefing lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung on the day’s developments, said it was for the students to prove their innocence.

Delhi police commissioner B.S. Bassi said the police was verifying all the video clips it had used for its probe.

The university also granted a seven-day extension to the highlevel committee it had set up to inquire into the controversial event. The panel comprising professors was supposed to submit its report by February 22.

All eyes will be on the Delhi high court on Tuesday as it hears the bail plea of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, charged with sedition, who has claimed he was “falsely implicated” in the case as he hadn’t raised any anti-national slogan.

Police officials, who have been positioned outside the JNU campus since Sunday night after they got information about the five students’ presence on campus, said they will talk to the V-C and ask him to direct the students to surrender.

But JNU’s students and teachers were firm that the police should not be allowed inside the campus. Fearing the students might become the victim of “lynch mobs”, JNU Students Union vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora sought the National Human Rights Commission’s interven- tion to ensure the safety of the family of Umar Khalid, allegedly the mastermind behind the controversial February 9 event. Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday accused the government of “muzzling” the voice of the Opposition, civil society and students.

The BJP said the JNU administration should hand over the accused students to the Delhi police, adding those who were “protecting” them should let the law take its own course.

Indicating Centre’s stand, minister Radha Mohan Singh said “antinational” sloganeering by anyone would not be tolerated.