2016 JNU sedition controversy

On 9 February 2016 left-wing students organisation Democratic Students Union (DSU) held a protest at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus against the capital punishment to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, despite the withdrawing of the permission for this event after protests by members of the right-wing students union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.[1][2] Reportedly anti-India slogans were raised at the DSU protest, which led to the arrest of the JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid on charges of sedition.[3]

Both the cheering of Afzal Guru and the arrests a few days later caused controversy. JNU Vice-Chancellor constituted a disciplinary committee for investigating the controversial event. On the basis of the initial investigation report, Kanhaiya Kumar and seven other students were academically debarred.[4][5]

Kanhaiya Kumar was granted six month interim bail by the Delhi High Court on 2 March 2016. On 11 March, the involved students were allowed to attend their classes again.[6] The high-level inquiry committee of Jawaharlal Nehru University found out that provocative slogans at the controversial February 9 event inside the campus, were raised by a group of outsiders, wearing masks.[7]

Onset

On 9 February, a cultural evening was organised by 10 students, formerly of the Democratic Students' Union (DSU), at the Sabarmati Dhaba,[8] against the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Bhat, and for "the struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self-determination".[9] The students organising the event had pasted posters inviting people to gather for a protest march against the "judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt."[9] Members of the Hindu nationalist student union ABVP protested against the event, and wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor of JNU, asking him to prevent the event.[1] Permission for the event was withdrawn by the Vice-Chancellor of JNU a few hours before the event. But the students insisted on their "freedom of speech" and went ahead with the event.[10]

At a similar event the previous year, permission was also withdrawn at the 11th hour, reportedly because S. A. R. Geelani, a Kashmiri lecturer at the Delhi University who was accused in the 2001 Parliament attack, was scheduled to speak. ABVP members reportedly tried to block him by throwing stones at his car and manhandling him. The JNU students formed a "human chain," to let him pass through to the talk venue. After the talk, the nearly 500 students who attended the event, took out a procession in favour of Kashimiri freedom.[11][12]

For the 2016 event, after having alerted the JNU administration, the ABVP leader Saurabh Sharma invited two television channels into the campus to cover the event.[13] According to India Today, anti-India slogans 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") were "reportedly raised at the protest meet."[9][14] It is not clear who shouted the slogans. Some reports indicate that they were shouted by masked men that came from the outside.[15] According to journalist Prem Shankar Jha, a "fracas ensued," and, in the end, the JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar gave a speech, where he came out in support of freedom of speech but condemned “any act of violence, terrorism, any terrorist act, or any anti-national activity.”[10]

Government, University, and Students' Union

Members of the JNU branch of ABVP (a student union belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh family of organisations—the Sangh Parivar) protested at the University demanding expulsion of the student organisers.[1]

The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (also belonging to the Sangh Parivar) tweeted "If anyone shouts anti India slogan & challenges nation's sovereignty & integrity while living in India, they will not be tolerated or spared." [16] He is said to have reacted following an alert by the Party's Member of Parliament Maheish Girri.[10]

Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru 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."[17]

JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid said "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."[18]

JNU administration ordered a "disciplinary" enquiry into the holding of an event on campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, despite denial of permission, saying any talk about country’s disintegration cannot be "national". The University’s move came in wake of protests by members of ABVP outside the VC office demanding expulsion of students who "misled" the university about nature of the event.[19]

Arrest of Student Union leader

The Delhi Police arrested the JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy, under section 124 of the Indian Penal Code dating back to 1860,[3][20] for allegedly raising anti-national slogans.

The arrest soon snowballed into a major political controversy, with several leaders of opposition parties visiting the JNU campus in solidarity with the students protesting against the police crackdown. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated that while the students would not be harassed, the "guilty would not be spared". Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the JNU would not be allowed to become a hub for "anti-national" activities.[21]

University teachers have criticised the arrest as "excessive police action".[22] JNU students formed a human chain, demanding that sedition charges against Kanhaiya Kumar be dropped.[23]

Amnesty India, said Kumar’s arrest and the charges against him are “uncalled for” and “India's sedition law contrary to international standards on freedom of expression must be repealed.”[24]

Response from Political Parties

The Indian National Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi said "It seems only the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have the licence to say who is a traitor and who is a patriot".[25]

The general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Sitaram Yechury, tweeted “There can be no bigger farce than (Nathuram) Godse-worshippers putting out certificates on nationalism.”[25]

Community response

Forty senior journalists from around the country, alumni of the JNU, have condemned the arrests stating that every University should protect dissenting members however unpalatable they may be to the mainstream opinion. They chastised the "government in power" for using the incidents as a ruse to attack a higher education institution and regarded at as a part of the attacks on dissent and freethinking.[26]

A group of professors from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay said that the state cannot dictate the many meanings of what it means to be "Indian" or mandate the meaning of "nationalism."[27]

Lyricist and film director Gulzar said that he feels he and his country are safe when he sees the youngsters raising their voices in dissent.[28] The BBC News and several commentators called the whole protest movement an "Indian spring" of 2016.[29][30][31]

International response

The incident gained International attention with students and teachers of several international universities, including the University of California and Yale, narrating his “seditious” speech in English, and uploading their videos online, with foreign students Dora Zhang and Damon Young, University of California, Berkeley saying in joint video, “We challenge the RSS’s definition of justice...".

More than 500 academics from around the world, including JNU alumni, released a statement in support of the students, stating that the JNU stands for a vital imagination of the space of a University that "embraces critical thinking, democratic dissent, student activism, and the plurality of political beliefs."[32][33][34]

In a separate statement, over 130 world-leading scholars including Noam Chomsky, Orhan Pamuk, Akeel Bilgrami and Sheldon Pollock called it a "shameful act of the Indian government" to invoke sedition laws formulated during colonial times to silence criticism.[35][36] Students from University of California, Berkeley, Yale University and University of London showed their solidarity by recording videos reading out the speech of Kanhaiya Kumar which was labelled seditious.[37]

Patiala House court assaults

The journalists covering this sedition case were assaulted by the lawyers outside the Patiala House court which led to a protest by the journalists against the violence that took place.[38][39]

On 16 February 2016, the Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear an urgent plea seeking "free and fair access to justice" to Kanhaiya Kumar, following acts of violence against JNU students and lecturers as well as a number of journalists at the Patiala House Court premises under the watch of police.[40] It transferred to the bail plea of Kanhaiya Kumar to the Delhi High Court to ensure his safety.[41] On February 22, 2016, India today broadcast a video in which three lawyers of the Patiala House court claim that they beat Kanhaiya Kumar in police custody.[42] A six-member Supreme Court-appointed panel later confirmed that the policemen present at the Court were responsible for the security lapses, and further stating that police allowed 2 persons to enter the court room, and continued to let the assault take place, in direct violation of the SC direction on Kanhaiya's safety.[43]

Other arrests

Five other students, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rama Naga, Anant Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar, went into hiding after Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest and returned 10 days later. Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya surrendered to the police and taken into custody. The other three students did not surrender but said that they were open to questioning by police when needed.[44]

Aftermath

Kanhaiya Kumar has been granted six month interim bail by High court, on 2 March 2016. Justice Pratibha Rani noted that there were no recordings of Kumar participating in anti-national slogans. Going beyond the immediate issue, the judge also held that the alleged slogans threaten national integrity and cannot be considered as free speech. She characterized them as a form of "infection," which can either be treated or, in some cases, "amputation is the only treatment."[45][46] A separate magisterial investigation appointed by the Delhi Government did not find any evidence of Kanhaiya Kumar participating in anti-national slogans. Out of the 7 videos of the event sent to forensic lab, three were found to be doctored including a clipping of a news channel.[47]

The custody of Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharjee has been extended for fourteen days. The lawyers, involved in Patiala House Court attack, have been arrested by the Delhi Police, after the sting operation video surfaced. These lawyers are now out on bail.

On 3 March 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar gave a speech to a packed auditorium on the JNU campus, in which he said he was seeking, not freedom from India, but freedom within India. He appealed to his fellow students to free the nation from the clutches of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which he said was trying to divide the nation. Referring to the ABVP, whose members were instrumental in bringing about his arrest, he called them his "opposition", not his enemy. He urged his supporters to keep raising the slogans of azadi (freedom).[48][49][50]

In a Delhi government report of an investigation of the incident, Kumar was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, said New Delhi district magistrate Sanjay Kumar. Furthermore, doubts were raised as to whether Pakistan Zindabad slogans had been chanted at the 9 February protest, and questions were raised about whether it had been outsiders from JNU who had shouted anti-Indian slogans. The report was not definitive about the role of Khalid in the protest, with District Magistrate Kumar saying that Khalid's role needed "to be further investigated." Following the submission of the report, Kumar was released on bail, but Khalid remained in custody. Regarding the controversy of fabricated videos, District Magistrate Kumar's probe reviewed seven videos sent for verification, and three were found to have been doctored by having been edited and voices added.[51]

The high-level inquiry committee of Jawaharlal Nehru University found out that provocative slogans at the controversial February 9 event inside the campus, were raised by a group of outsiders, wearing masks.[7]

Fabrications

Zee News reported that some of the students from Democratic Students' Union (DSU) raised slogans such as "Bharat Ki Barbadi" ("Destruction of India") and " Pakistan Zindabad" ("long live Pakistan") [52] The Zee News report was found to be based on a misinterpretation by Zee News. In a letter Vishwa Deepak, one of the Zee News producer at the time, stated "Our biases made us hear Bhartiya Court Zindabad as Pakistan Zindabad." ("long live Indian courts" as "long live Pakistan.") Subsequently Vishwa Deepak resigned from the channel after expressing reservations over its 'biased coverage'.[53][note 1] In response, Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary said "Our channel only showed what was happening there, whatever we have shown is 100 per cent authentic.[54] Later, the Zee News showed the raw footage of jnu campus to prove it was not a doctored tape and the students indeed chanted Pakistan Zindabad slogans.[55]

The misinterpretation was disclosed when the Aam Aadmi Party filed a complaint, alleging that ABVP students raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans. The ABVP admitted that members of their organisation had been present, but shouted "Bharatiya Court Zindabad" and "Indian Army zindabad," and filed a counter complaint. The police then declared that "the footage had been tampered with."[53]

Another video, dated 11 February 2016, which showed a speech by JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar making anti-national slogans, appears to be doctored. According to India Today, "In the original video, Kanhaiya is asking to end social ills such as caste and communalism not anti national slogans, experts said."[56][57]

On 14 February 2016, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh alleged that the JNU incident has the support of the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.[58] Doubts were soon expressed if this was tied to the discredited alert by Delhi Police that used a tweet from a fake/parody account.[59]

Related events

A complaint was filed by lawyer Sunkari Janardhan Goud against "Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal[,] Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury [...] Congress leaders Anand Sharma and Ajay Maken, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja, and Janata Dal (United) spokesperson KC Tyagi."[60] According to Goud, "Gandhi and other leaders visited Jawaharlal Nehru University despite knowing that Kumar had been charged with sedition and supported protesting JNU students."[60] According to Goud,

It was absolutely wrong for Rahul Gandhi to visit JNU. I have filed this case against him because he should not involve himself in such cases in the future. Being a politician and Opposition leader, he should focus on policies and not on anti-national issues like JNU. They (the JNU students) were talking about the destruction of India and not any political party.[61]

The branding of JNU students and academics as `anti-national' continued in March 2016. The Central University of Jharkhand cancelled the visit of former JNU professor M. N. Panini, invited to speak at the Vallabhbhai Patel birth anniversary, alleging that he was a mentor of Kanhaiya Kumar and other students activists. The Vice-Chancellor said that he was flooded with "emails, SMS-es and calls" demanding the cancellation as well as objections raised by the State Governor Draupadi Murmu. The Vice-Chancellor also suspended the Jharkhand Dean that invited Panini for the event, stating that the invitation did not have his permission.[62][63]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ According to Vishwa Deepak, there is a pro-Modi bias at Zee News, and that Zee News "has abetted a riot-like situation."[54] In response, Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary said "Our channel only showed what was happening there, whatever we have shown is 100 per cent authentic. How far will you push freedom of speech?"[54]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "JNU orders probe into Afzal Guru event". The Week. 10 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Student Describes What Actually Happened At The Jawaharlal Nehru University On Feb 9, Huffington Post, 20 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 "JNU student leader held on ‘sedition’ charges over Afzal Guru event". The Indian Express. 13 February 2016.
  4. ↑ Kanhaiya Had Objected To Cancellation Of Permission For Afzal Guru Event: JNU Registrar, NDTV, 7 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Kanhaiya Had Objected to Cancellation of Permission for Afzal Guru Event: JNU Registrar, Indian Express, 8 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Azaan Javaid (2016-03-12). "Suspension of Kanhaiya Kumar cancelled, JNU faculty to see if ABVP finds mention in internal committee report | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  7. 1 2 "JNU row: Provocative slogans were shouted by outsiders, says university's probe panel | Zee News". Zeenews.india.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  8. ↑ A private restaurant near the Sabarmati hostel (Little Black Book, Delhi+Gurgaon, On campus at night, dhaba debates, hushed queries and angry charges, Indian Express, 14 February 2016).
  9. 1 2 3 "Afzal Guru: A martyr in JNU campus? Anti-India slogans raised, no arrests made : News". India Today. 11 February 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 Jha, Prem Shankar (26 February 2016), ‘Something Extraordinary is Going on in this Country’
  11. ↑ BJP's student wing activists try to disrupt seminar on Kashmir issue at JNU, Dawn, 13 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Geelani ‘roughed up’ in JNU, The Hindu, 13 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Did ABVP member let media cars in?, The Times of India, 3 March 2016.
  14. ↑ See also IndiaBTL at Twitter, Y'day, In JNU- "Kashmir ki azadi tak, jung chalegi, Bharat ki barbadi tak, jung chalegi" Anti-national communists., including short video.
  15. ↑ Three ABVP leaders resign over JNU action, The Indian Express, 18 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "Rajnath Singh on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-02-14.
  17. ↑ "JNU student union criticises ‘anti-India’ slogans, attacks ABVP". Hindustan Times. 12 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Pro-Afzal Guru sloganeering: JNUSU fight gets intense, AISA denies making anti-national slogans - Firstpost". Firstpost. 12 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "Afzal Guru event: Anti-India slogans at JNU campus; ‘disciplinary’ enquiry ordered". The Indian Express. 10 February 2016.
  20. ↑ "Why an Indian student has been arrested for sedition". BBC News. 15 February 2016.
  21. ↑ "Showdown escalates on JNU campus". The Hindu. 14 February 2016.
  22. ↑ "India student leader held on sedition charges - BBC News". BBC News. 12 February 2016.
  23. ↑ "JNU row: Students form human chain, Cong demands action against ABVP". DNA India. 14 February 2016.
  24. ↑ Calamur, Krishnadev (12 February 2016). "The Sedition Charge Against a Student Leader in India". The Atlantic.
  25. 1 2 "‘Traitor, anti-national and intolerant’: Who said what at JNU protest". Hindustan Times. 16 February 2016.
  26. ↑ Stand with JNU-I: Journalists from JNU, Economic and Political Weekly, 20 February 2016.
  27. ↑ Stand with JNU-IV: Undermining Institutions, Economic and Political Weekly, 20 February 2016.
  28. ↑ I feel both me and my country are safe: Gulzar supports JNU students' voice of dissent, DNA India, 21 March 2016.
  29. ↑ Soutik Biswas, Kanhaiya Kumar: India's most loved and loathed student, BBC News, 11 March 2016.
  30. ↑ Rajat Datta, The Spring of 2016 and the Idea of JNU, Economic and Political Weekly, 27 February 2016.
  31. ↑ Harsh Mander, Can an Indian spring be far behind?, Indian Express, 11 March 2016.
  32. ↑ "JNU world alumni back university students, faculty". The Tribune. 16 February 2016.
  33. ↑ PTI (21 February 2016). "JNU sedition case: Students of international universities support Kanhaiya Kumar". Live Mint.
  34. ↑ "JNU row: Academicians from Harvard, Yale condemn ‘illegal detention’". Hindustan Times. 16 February 2016.
  35. ↑ ‘JNU events signal culture of authoritarian menace’, The Hindu, 16 February 2016.
  36. ↑ Chomsky to JNU V-C: why did you allow police on campus?, The Hindu, 21 February 2016.
  37. ↑ Students In California, Yale Narrate JNU Student Kanhaiya's 'Seditious' Speech, NDTV, 21 February 2016.
  38. ↑ "Attack at Patiala House court: Indian Express journalists recount the assault". The Indian Express. 16 February 2016.
  39. ↑ "Journalists stage protest over attack at Patiala House court". India Today. 16 February 2016.
  40. ↑ "Supreme Court agrees to urgent hearing on plea over JNU row". The Hindu. 16 February 2016.
  41. ↑ SC transfers JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar's bail plea to Delhi High Court, The Hindu, 19 February 2016.
  42. ↑ Mathur, Avarnita (22 February 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: Kanhaiya wet his pants while we beat him up in police custody, say lawyers behind Patiala House assault". India today. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  43. ↑ "JNU sedition case: Video is out; Kanhaiya Kumar assaulted, breaks down, police duck for cover". The Indian Express. 28 February 2016.
  44. ↑ JNU row: Kanhaiya Kumar to lead push for Umar and Anirban's release from custody, Firstpost, 14 March 2016.
  45. ↑ JNU row: Kanhaiya Kumar gets bail and a lesson on thoughts that ‘infect… (like) gangrene’, Indian Express, 3 March 2016.
  46. ↑ Delhi HC gives Kanhaiya Kumar bail quoting Bollywood song and calling slogans an 'infection', Scroll.in, 2 March 2016.
  47. ↑ JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar gets clean chit in AAP government appointed probe, Economic Times, 3 March 2016.
  48. ↑ JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar gives blistering speech after release, The Hindu, 3 March 2016.
  49. ↑ Full Speech: Kanhaiya Kumar, Out On Bail, Speaks Of 'Azadi' On JNU Campus, NDTV, 3 March 2016.
  50. ↑ 'Azaadi, azaadi': Kanhaiya Kumar gives fiery speech mocking Modi govt, Sangh Parivar at JNU campus, DNA India, 3 March 2016.
  51. ↑ "JNU row: Delhi govt probe absolves Kanhaiya but unsure of Umar’s role".
  52. ↑ "From 'Pakistan Zindabad' to 'Bharat ki barbaadi' - Slogans that were raised by 'anti-nationals' in JNU". Zee News. 14 February 2016.
  53. 1 2 "Zee News producer quits: Video we shot had no Pakistan Zindabad slogan". The Indian Express. 22 February 2016.
  54. 1 2 3 "We speak with the Zee News journalist who resigned over the channel’s coverage of #JNURow". Newslaundry. 21 February 2016.
  55. ↑ Zee News shows the raw footage of jnu campus to prove it was not a doctored tape.
  56. ↑ "Forensic experts say Kanhaiya video was doctored". India Today. 19 February 2016.
  57. ↑ "JNU row: Did a fake video fuel the anti-national fire?". India Today. 18 February 2016.
  58. ↑ "Understand the reality... Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed backed JNU incident: Home Minister Rajnath Singh". The Indian Express. 2016-02-15.
  59. ↑ "JNU row: Behind govt claim, a fake ‘Hafeez’ Saeed tweet". The Indian Express. 15 February 2016.
  60. 1 2 JNU row: Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal, Yechury among 9 booked for sedition, The Tribune, 28 February 2016.
  61. ↑ Meet the man behind the sedition case against Rahul Gandhi, Rediff News, 1 March 2016.
  62. ↑ Jharkhand University professor suspended for inviting JNU teacher to event, India Today, 30 March 2016.
  63. ↑ Jharkhand Univ Prof Invites JNU Teacher to Event, Gets Suspended, The Quint, 30 March 2016.

External links

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