JNU Sedition Row

On 9 February 2016, some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) held a protest on their campus against the capital punishment meted out to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat. The organizers of the event were former members of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU). The event was held despite the university administration withdrawing permission for the event shortly before it was due to begin, due to protests by members of the student union of ABVP. The event saw clashes between various student groups. A video was circulated by Indian news channel Zee news in which a small group of individuals, whom a later investigation described as outsiders to the university wearing masks, shouted "anti-India" slogans. The slogans were criticized by many individuals, including political leaders and students of JNU.

Four days after the event, JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested by the Delhi police and charged with sedition. Two other students were arrested soon afterwards, including Umar Khalid. The arrests drew heavy criticism from many sections of society, on the grounds that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was attempting to silence political dissent. Thousands of students, faculty, and staff protested the arrest at JNU, and classes at the university were stopped for several days. The arrest was also criticized by a number of prominent scholars internationally. Protests against the arrests were held in the University of Delhi, Jadavpur University, Osmania University, Aligarh Muslim University, Panjab University, and University of Kerala.

Investigations into the incident were carried out by the Delhi government and the university administration. Both found that the controversial slogans had been shouted by outsiders to the university. The arrested students were all granted bail, with the judge noting in one case that there was some evidence of the accused shouting slogans. However, the university inquiry found a number of students to have violated university rules and enacted sanctions, varying from fines to rustication, on 21 students. In response, twenty five students went on an indefinite hunger strike. The Delhi High Court suspended the enactment of the university sanctions till their appeals were decided by an appellate authority within six weeks of hearing the students on the condition that they end their strike.

Background and prelude

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is one of India's highest ranked universities, known as one of the country's best graduate schools in the social sciences. The student union of the university has close ties to India's Communist parties; the university itself has mobilized around a number of political issues. The administration of the university is answerable to the Union government;

In February 2016, 10 students of the university organized an event protesting the executions of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat, and in support of "the struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self-determination". The event was planned to be held on 9 February. Afzal Guru was a Kashmiri separatist convicted of participating in the 2001 Parliament attack: his execution in 2013 had drawn criticism for being carried out in secret. Maqbool Bhat, also a Kashmiri separatist, was the co-founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, and had been hanged in 1984. The students organizing the event were all former members of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU).

Posters advertising the event had invited people to attend a protest march against the "judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt." The posters also mentioned an exhibition of art and photographs about the history of the occupation of Kashmir, and the struggles of its inhabitants. Members of the Hindu nationalist student union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) protested the event, and wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor of the university, asking him to prevent it. The university administration withdrew permission for the event a few hours before it was to be held. The registrar of the university said that the request for permission that had been filed for the event had not mentioned Afzal Guru, and that it had therefore been incomplete. After filing a complaint with the JNU administration, ABVP leader Saurabh Kumar Sharma invited two television channels to cover the event.

At a similar event held the previous year, permission had also been withdrawn shortly before the event; according to the organizers, this was because S. A. R. Geelani, a Kashmiri lecturer at the Delhi University, had been scheduled to speak. Geelani had been accused of involvement in the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, but had been acquitted due to lack of evidence. The organizers nonetheless held the event. Several students tried to prevent Geelani from attending: stones were thrown at his car, and Geelani himself was manhandled. He was able to attend the event due to JNU students forming a human chain to protect him. Geelani and the organizers stated that the disruptive students were members of the ABVP, which was denied by the ABVP.

First rally

The students held the event despite the withdrawal of permission, citing their freedom of speech. Rather than holding a protest as initially planned, the event involved a cultural programme, and an art and photo exhibition. The event was organized near the "Sabarmati Dhaba" on the JNU campus. Towards the end of the event, various student groups clashed, and police forces needed to be called in to restore order. The ABVP issued a call for a protest outside the venue of the event, terming it "anti-national." In response to the ABVP's call, members of other student groups, including the All India Students Association(AISA), the All India Students Federation (AISF), and the Students' Federation of India (SFI), arrived to support the event.

During the "fracas" that ensued, a small group of people raised slogans that were generally described as "anti-India" slogans. They included phrases like "''Kashmir ki azadi tak jung chalegi, Bharat ki barbadi tak jung chalegi''" ("War will continue till Kashmir's freedom, war will continue till India's demolition"). There was controversy over the identity of the sloganeers. Although initial media reports blamed the organizers and the students of JNU for the slogans, an investigation by the university later stated that the provocative slogans were raised by outsiders. At the end of the event, JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar gave a speech, in which he stated that he supported freedom of speech, but condemned "any act of violence, terrorism, any terrorist act, or any anti-national activity."

Immediate reactions and arrests

Students union responses

The organizers of the event distanced themselves from the slogans. Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), said: "We are appalled at the way the entire incident is being used to malign JNU students. At the outset, we want to condemn the undemocratic slogans that were raised by some people on that day. It is important to note that the slogans were not raised by members of Left organisations or JNU students." JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid Shora condemned the slogans, saying; "We condemn the undemocratic slogans that were raised by some people on that day. In fact, when the sloganeering had been taking place, it was the Left-progressive organisations and students, including JNUSU office-bearers, who asked the organisers to stop the slogans, which were regressive."

ABVP protests and inquiry

On 10 February, the Members of the JNU branch of the ABVP, protested at the university, demanding the expulsion of the students who had organized the previous day's event. A day later the ABVP filed an official complaint with the JNU administration, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the Delhi Police. The complaint referred to various leftist groups as "terrorists." Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh suggested that the event had been supported by the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and tweeted "If anyone shouts anti India slogan & challenges nation's sovereignty & integrity while living in India, they will not be tolerated or spared." He was reported to have reacted following an alert by the Party's Member of Parliament Maheish Girri. The administration of JNU stated that the event had been an act of indiscipline since permission for it had been withdrawn, and announced that it would hold a formal inquiry. The administration said that any talk about country's disintegration cannot be "national".

Arrests and criticism

Four days after the initial event, the Delhi Police arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy, under section 124 of the Indian Penal Code dating back to 1860. Five other students, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rama Naga, Anant Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar, went into hiding after the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, and returned 10 days later. Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya surrendered to the police and were taken into custody. The other three students did not surrender but said that they were open to questioning by police when needed.

The arrest and the use of the sedition law were heavily criticized as being a suppression of political dissent

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