The three JNU students, Ashutosh Kumar, Anant Prakash and the JNUSU general secretary Rama Naga maintained that they are not going to surrender to police as they never made any mistake and the entire sedition case is based on “false evidence”.
Naga said, “We have not been issued any summons so why should be surrender. We have communicated to police about our whereabouts and that we are open to questioning”.
“We are going to join the movement against branding of the university as anti-national and attack on students. If the movement goes outside the campus, we are going to join there as well,” he added.
Questioning the BJP Government for having an alliance with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, they said, “If we are being called anti nationals for shouting slogans questioning hanging of Afzal Guru, then why the BJP has an alliance with PDP in Kashmir, which has always opposed his executionIJ”
“Can BJP charge PDP with sedition for its stand on Afzal GuruIJ If even thinking about Guru makes a student seditious, why they have an alliance with PDP in Kashmir, which has always opposed the hanging of Afzal Guru and even was party to a resolution brought in the state assembly against his execution,” said Ashutosh who is the former president of the JNUSU.
Naga, Ashutosh Kumar and Anant Prakash, are among the five students who have resurfaced back on campus after 10 days of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest on sedition charges for allegedly raising anti-India slogans during the controversial event.
Anant, former vice president of JNUSU, said, “We are not receiving fellowships on time and they talk about us receiving foreign funding for ‘seditious’ events on campus. Even if they consider any activity to be unconstitutional or unlawful, they can condemn it but not criminalise.”
The students also feature in the list of those who were academically debarred by the university on basis of a preliminary enquiry report by a high-level committee probing the issue. The varsity has allowed them to stay as guests in hostels to enable them to participate in enquiry process.