Fifteen students of JNU on Friday continued with the indefinite hunger strike on day 9 while Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, admitted to AIIMS in a semi-conscious state on Thursday, was discharged from AIIMS on Friday after his health improved.
Meanwhile, the JNU administration issued fresh advisory for the students and teachers to avoid inviting outsiders to the campus. Also, the administration asked the students to refrain from using “direct or indirect coercive measures and come forward for dialogue and discussion”.
Kanhaiya, who is out on bail after his arrest in a sedition case, was discharged after treatment for mild dehydration and ketosis. “Kanhaiya has been discharged from AIIMS. He has been advised bed rest for a few days. He has to undergo some medical tests too but he will continue with the strike,” a JNUSU statement said.
The ketone level of the fasting students is high and the BP is low, according to the test reports from the health centre. “The administration requests all the teachers and students to avoid inviting people from outside the campus for any gathering or activity to press their demands, which could undermine peace and security in the campus,” JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said in an appeal.
“Thousands of students on the campus are busy preparing for or writing their end semester examinations and also writing their dissertations. Continuing hunger strikes and escalation of it through involvement of outsiders may further enhance the stress level in the campus and affect the career of those students,” he added.
While members from civil society joined the protests on Friday, alumni of the university will gather on Saturday to express solidarity by fasting for a day. In a separate notice, the Registrar asked the students to not use the Public Address System without permission and around the administration block, which has been the venue of protest ever since the sedition row broke out.