Even as home minister Rajnath Singh and HRD minister Smriti Irani advocated strong action against those involved in the 'anti-India' act, Kumar's arrest brought the students and teachers on one platform.
The Delhi police, on Friday, entered the student hostels of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus here and arrested student union president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case over an event at the varsity's campus against hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. The police apparently had the permission of the university Vice-Chancellor to search for 20 students, against whom there are sedition charges for chanting anti-national slogans.
Even as home minister Rajnath Singh and HRD minister Smriti Irani advocated strong action against those involved in the 'anti-India' act, Kumar's arrest brought the students and teachers on one platform. Demanding Kumar's immediate release and dropping of charges against him, more than 600 students took out a candlelight march in the evening. They also demanded that the police keep off the campus.
While the agitators claimed that Kumar had not made any anti-national remarks during his 20-minute speech following alleged vandalism by the ABVP (Akhil Bharitiya Vidyarthi Parishad) activists at the venue of Afzal Guru death anniversary event, police said they were prompted to act due to the alleged anti-India sloganeering at the event.
Rajnath Singh, in a tweet, said: "Anyone who raises anti-India slogans or tries to put a question mark on nation's unity and integrity will not be spared." Irani too came out with a statement that the "nation can never tolerate an insult to Mother India."
Responding to the events, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "What is happening in JNU? Police on campus, arrests and picking up students from hostels. This had last happened during Emergency." The JNU teachers' union too came out in support of the students criticising police action.
The ABVP, meanwhile, demanded that the organisers of the Guru event should be expelled from the university.
A high-level inquiry committee has been constituted by the university administration to investigate into the incident.
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