On a day that saw multiple protests, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and a section of JNU Teachers’ Association on Tuesday continued to protest inside the campus demanding release of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar arrested on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy over holding of an event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised hailing Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
On the other hand, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists staged a protest outside JNU against the February 9 event.
Far away from JNU campus, journalists marched from Press Club of India to the Supreme Court shouting slogans against the Modi Government and the Delhi Police over violence in Patiala House court complex on Monday.
Scribes submitted a memorandum to its Registrar seeking cancellation of licences of lawyers involved in the assault. The protesters also demanded Police Commissioner BS Bassi’s sacking over alleged inaction by the security personnel at the Patiala House Courts when journalists, students and teachers of JNU were attacked by people wearing lawyers’ black robes.
More than a dozen journalists were attacked when they had gone to cover the hearing of the sedition case against arrested Kanhaiya.
Delhi BJP MlA OP Sharma was also seen beating up a CPI activist.
Senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan slammed the Delhi Police for remaining “mute spectators” when the assault was going on. “The manner in which police allowed the goons to beat up journalists and no action has been taken against them even after 24 hours tells you that the terrain is likely to get more and more hostile for journalism… There is not even a video of Kanhaiya Kumar saying anything and he has been booked for sedition and here you have a video recording of an MlA kicking and beating somebody and not even a case has been registered,” he said.
The memorandum by the journalists was submitted to the SC even as it agreed to hear a petition on a plea seeking action against those involved in the violence on Wednesday.
Urging the SC to direct the bar council to cancel the licenses of the errant advocates, the memorandum said, “We demand the intervention of the highest court of the land
to take appropriate action against the advocates involved in the assault.” The journalists also said the CCTV footage of the incident should be called for and police directed to ensure protection to journalists.
In the memorandum to the Home Minister, the journalists demanded that the perpetrators of the assault be brought to book at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists staged a protest outside JNU. They shouted slogans and burnt effigies of JNU Vice-Chancellor demanding action against the alleged anti-nationals.
However, the protesters were not allowed to march inside the campus by university security and police force deployed outside the campus. The Bajrang Dal protesters also demanded that the vice chancellor take action against the teachers who are supporting the agitation of left-leaning students.
Shehla Rashid Shora, the Vice President of the JNUSU said the students will march outside the campus on February 18 at Jantar Mantar. “We are grateful to the teacher community for supporting us. We are not going to give up. I request everyone to gather on Thursday and march towards Jantar Mantar. Our main gate has been shut and our supporters citizens of this country who support us are not able to reach and join us inside so we request everyone to join us on Thursday including those sections of media who support us we invite all,” Shehla said.
Teachers’ bodies of 40 Central universities and Pune-based FTII have also come out in support of the agitating students, saying it is an issue of “indiscipline” and not “sedition”.