VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress candidate from North East Delhi, Kanhaiya Kumar was attacked by unidentified men earlier today.#LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024

(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/X6Z1S0FXje

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 17, 2024

The attackers said that they attacked Kumar because he had given anti-India slogans earlier. The alleged attacker is referring to the 2016 incident at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University where the media had raised allegations about anti-national, separatist slogans being raised at the university. Kumar, who was the student union president, along with other students, had been arrested in the case that followed. 

Recently, during the course of an investigation, a forensic report has revealed that that it was a close aide of the then Human Resource Department Minister Smriti Irani, Shilpe Tewari, has come under  the focus of the investigation in relation to some doctored videos of the event. These videos, now considered to be doctored, which had been circulated around by media in the aftermath of the event had been used to accuse the students at the university of making anti-India slogans. 

According to Hate Detectors, the two now detained for attacking the MP candidate call themselves ‘Sanatani’ and ‘Kattar Hindu’ respectively. They both are public Instagram figures it seems, as one of them has over 11000 followers, and the other has over 300,000. They have both claimed responsibility for the attack in a video shared by them. They say they have given Kumar a ‘treatment’ for his ‘anti-India’ talks. 

The main attackers who carried out a pre-planned attack on #Congress leader #KanhaiyaKumar are #DakshChaudhary and #AnnuChaudhary. Many criminal cases are already registered against them. pic.twitter.com/CsYoJm5avF

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) May 17, 2024

The north-east Delhi police commissioner has stated that the videos of the incident are being examined and an investigation is underway. 

As of now the Congress has claimed that the attackers belong to the BJP, and especially to those known by the north-east Delhi’s current MP Manoj Tiwari and the candidate opposite Kumar. However the party’s office has denied such claims and stated that the Congress party is spreading rumours.  Delhi goes to vote for the country’s Lok Sabha elections on May 25, on the sixth phase. 

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The post Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar attacked during campaign appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A Sabrangindia Special

India’s campuses have become the favoured site for the brute implementation of a militaristic agenda. With the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula (January 17, 2016), the sustained and violent attack on the JNU Campus and criminalization of protests including incarceration of Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar (2016), this regime in its first term had made its intentions clear. Then came the disappearance of post graduate student, Najeeb in which ABVP’s clearly alleged role has been left uninvestigated. There were also sustained attacks on the FTII, Pune, Pondicherry university and Hyderabad Central University (HCU) that was completely fortified off by the authorities.

That was then, the first term. Now, as we are nearing the end of 2022, we see how over the past year especially, as before, the immunity enjoyed by the ABVP continues.

From the campus of the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, the ABVP’s hand in fomenting targeted incidents is visible

The past eight years, coinciding with the brute majority earned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre has seen the aggressive, often violent, activities of the RSS-affiliate, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) especially on the nation’s university campuses. Law enforcement agencies and governments have displayed a visible soft touch in curtailing these, ensuring that they function with complete impunity.

December 4, 2022, between two rounds of elections in the state, ABVP members forced the Ahmedabad-based HA College Principal chant “Jai Sri Ram” and made him apologize to students who were rebuked earlier for raising slogans during an ongoing class. Sources told the Times of India that a couple of days ago, a few students had started shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan while the class was in progress at the HA College which is affiliated to the GLS University and is on the GLS campus near the Law Garden in the city. The teacher had earlier rebuked these students for disrupting the class and took them to the college principal, Sanjay Vakil. Vakil had scolded these students and made them write an apology letter. “The teacher later brought them to me and I also scolded them. Today, some students affiliated with ABVP came to the principal’s office and created a ruckus. They started chanting ‘Ram Dhun’ and demanded an apology from the principal for hurting religious sentiments,” said Bhalchandra Joshi, the provost of GLS University. Joshi said that the principal apologized to them explaining that he had no intention of hurting anyone’s religious sentiments. Sources said that the ABVP members forced the principal to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ with them and made him apologize to the students whom he had rebuked earlier.

December 1/2, 2022, a law college principal in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, was forced to resign. The decision, was precipitated by pressure exerted by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing affiliated with the RSS. Hours after putting in his papers, the academic was booked for promoting enmity amongst religious groups along with three of his colleagues. His travails began on December 1, when ABVP members submitted a memorandum, alleging “religious fundamentalist thoughts being promoted by four Muslim teachers of the college”. A day later, the activists took offence to the presence of a book, Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System, in the institution’s library. Portions of the book, according to them, showed the RSS in poor light.

December 1, 2002, students of the Delhi University (DU) protesting demanding the release of GN Saibaba were gheraoed and attacked reportedly by ABVP persons who also injured some students and gheraoed the hospital where they were being treated. Around five students of Delhi University were seriously injured after they were allegedly attacked by over 50 Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members during a protest demanding the release of former DU professor GN Saibaba. The attack on students involved with the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) were, according to Quint first attacked with stones and then lathis.

December 2, 2022, six professors were pulled off duty in the same college in MP on the strongarm tactics of the ABVP. The Indore-based Shasakiya Navin Vidhi Mahavidyalay (Government New Law College) pulled off six teachers, including four Muslims, off duty temporarily on complaints by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who accused them of promoting fundamentalism and ‘negative thoughts’ about the government and Army These teachers will now not be allowed to teach classes for five days while a judicial inquiry is conducted into the allegations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated student union, the college principal said on Thursday, December 1. It was Dipendra Thakur, head of the ABVP unit at the college, who alleged in a complaint to principal Dr Inamur Rahman that some teachers promoted ‘religious fundamentalism and negative thoughts about the government and the Army’ among first-year students. Further he also said that on Fridays, the principal, Muslim teachers, and students offer namaaz and during this time classes are not held. 

August 30,2022, a week after ABVP blamed him for security guards’ ‘attack’ on students, JNU rector was compelled to resign. Reportedly, along with student organisations, the students affiliated to the ABVP, were demanding disbursal of ‘pending’ fellowship grants clashed with JNU security guards last week, with both sides going on to get FIRs registered against each other.  While the university administration claimed that two guards were beaten up “mercilessly” by the students, the ABVP JNU unit, in a press statement issued after the incident, laid the blame on the rector.

The ABVP statement had read, “It should be known that this attack on the students was done at the behest of Dr Ajay Dubey of JNU, who is also the varsity’s rector. The JNU rector has been already exposed for running two ‘illegal’ NGOs from his JNU address. “The two NGOs in question are the Organisation for Diaspora Initiatives (ODI) and the African Studies Association of India (ASAI). Dubey has denied the accusations, which were reportedly made by a group of teachers.

July 30 2022, ABVP Activists Storm Karnataka Home Minister’s Residence (Jnanendra’s bungalow at Jayamahal in Bengaluru) In Protest Over BJP Leader’s Murder. These activists affiliated to the ABVP were protesting the killing of BJYM leader Praveen Nettar, who was killed in Dakshin Kannada district on Tuesday. They were baton-charged on Saturday when they barged into the residence of Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra in a protest over the murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing leader in Dakshina Kannada district. 

June 10, 2022, clash between the ABVP and Campus Front of India (CFI) affiliated to the mow banned Popular Front of India (PFI) at the University College, a constituent college of Mangalore University, at Hampankatta with three students were admitted to a hospital stating that they suffered minor injuries in the clash. Reportedly the clash took place over a matter relating to some students mounting portraits of Veer Savarkar and Bharat Mata above the black board in a classroom without the permission of the college on June 6. The college removed the portraits the next day. Some students had complained to the principal about the portraits. And, a video clipping of the students mounting the portraits had gone viral on social media.

May 23, 2022, reported clashes at Gorakhpur Varsity as ABVP Calls DJ at College Fest ‘Porn Star’. ABVP members arrived at Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology to submit a memorandum against the college fest hosting DJ Zabylla, whose show they claimed was ‘obscene’.

 Half a dozen people were injured in a clash at a Gorakhpur university after activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad allegedly stormed the campus claiming that an Indonesian DJ who performed at the college fest was “obscene” and a “porn star.”

ABVP has filed a police complaint against three, including two teachers of the university, accusing them of attempt to murder, assault and rioting. The university has also filed a complaint against ABVP activists.Gorakhpur’s Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology (MMMUT) had invited Indonesian DJ, Zabylla, to perform at the annual cultural event of the varsity, ‘Tech Srijan 2022’. Various academic and cultural programmes were also part of the annual fest.  Terming the ABVP’s allegations as baseless and an attempt to defame the varsity, Vice-Chancellor J.P. Pandey told various media houses that ABVP activists stormed the campus without any prior notice to submit the memorandum and started raising slogans in an aggressive manner. “College authorities tried to pacify the protesters, invited them to discuss the matter and told them that their allegations were not true,” he added. Pandey also directly alleged that the ABVP activists misbehaved with the teachers, which angered the varsity students.  “Shubham Chaurasia, a final year student of the university, suffered grave injuries in the clash,” Pandey said.

After this violent clash, the Council has been asked to submit a report, Pandey said. In addition, a committee of four teachers have been directed to submit a report after investigating the complaints of the ABVP about the event. This committee was supposed to submit a report on the incident of May 19.  Pandey has also written a letter to the District Magistrate requesting him to nominate an administrative officer and a police officer to the committee so that a fair investigation can be conducted. The V-C also said that the university, too, has lodged a complaint at the Cantonment police station.

May 18, 2022, professor of Lucknow University Ravi Kant Chandan, a Dalit thinker, was physically assaulted –for the second time–by a student leader associated with Samajwadi Party’s student wing on Wednesday, May 18. This was the second such attack on Chandan in about a week since he made comments deemed “derogatory” by Hindutva outfits in connection with the ongoing row into Gyanvapi mosque and Kashi Vishwanath Mandir. On May 10, eight days before, he faced a physical attack from the members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The latest attack, on May 18, was carried out by one Karthik Pandey of the Samajwadi Chatra Sabha, the student wing of the Samajwadi Party. Chandan was attacked near the proctor’s office on the campus moments after leaving the Hindi department after delivering a lecture there.

The attack stunned everyone on the campus as Samajwadi Chatra Sabha, along with several other student bodies and faculty members, protested on Tuesday, May 17, at the Lucknow University gate against the ABVP attack on Professor Chandan and lent its support.

Apeil 10, 2022, a clash between students affiliated to left student organisations and others with the RSS-affiliate, the ABVP broke out after then Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh o accused Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members of stopping students from eating non-vegetarian food on campus and thereafter indulging in violence. Left members also accused ABVP members of resorting to stone-pelting in the evening in which some students were injured. The mess secretary was also allegedly attacked by ABVP students. Deputy commissioner of police (Southwest) Manoj C said six persons from both sides have sustained minor injuries. 

February 15, 2022:  ABVP members on Tuesday protested outside the Tamil Nadu Bhavan in the national capital demanding the probe in the Thanjavur student suicide case be transferred to the CBI. ABVP Delhi State Secretary Siddharth while talking to ANI alleged that the accused in the case were welcomed by the ministers in the state government when they were released from jail. “To ensure an independent investigation, the state government should distance itself from the probe,” he said. He also demanded that the members of ABVP who are arrested for protesting outside CM house over the same issue should be released immediately.

February 4, 2020, following attacks, ABVP, SFS students hold protests at Panjab University. Protests and counter protests were held amidst slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘SFS hooliganism will not be tolerated’, members of the ABVP gathered to condemn the attack outside Boys Hostel No 3, which had left one of its members severely injured on Saturday evening. Several SFS members at the protest claimed that the attack took place in response to the lewd and “misogynistic” comments that Divyansh, the ABVP student who was attacked, had posted on a Facebook group (reported by The Indian Express). “We cannot tolerate those who treat women like this, and post such derogatory comments,” said some SFS members during the protest.

After the attack which took place on Saturday night, Divyansh registered an FIR naming four members of SFS, including the PU SFS president Varinder Singh. The FIR was registered under the Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 147 (for rioting), 141 (show of criminal force) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Following the incident, an SFS student, Antarpreet Singh, who was also named in the FIR, was allegedly attacked outside Boys Hostel No 1 by a few ABVP members on that night. “I was outside the Boys Hostel No 1 when they attacked me. They tore off my turban and said you survived 1984 but you will not survive anymore,” said Antarpreet. A DDR was registered regarding the incident and the police said, it needs to conduct an inquiry before registering an FIR.

January 31, 2022, police used violence to control two protests reportedly against both the ABVP which was protesting the delay in issuance of marks cards, another organisation comprising Bangalore University Post Graduate and Research Scholars was protesting condemning the recent incident of a district judge asking officials to remove the photo of Dr BR Ambedkar during the 73 Republic Day programme in Raichur. Jurisdictional police officials denied any such incident took place

Violence had broken out on the Jnanabharati Campus of Bangalore University after the city police resorted to hitting protesting student activists of Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat (ABVP) with lathis (sticks). Jurisdictional police officials however have denied any such incident ever took place!

December 15, 2021, an incident at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), members of the right-wing student outfit Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) allegedly attacked a study circle organized by students to discuss an essay by Friedrich Engels, a 19^th century German philosopher of repute. This an eye-witness account of the incident.

November 14, 2021 members of ABVP, most of them upper-caste men, disrupted a study circle that was going to be held in Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) office, Teflas at 9 p.m. by Hundred Flowers Group on Friedrich Engels’ essay, Socialism, Utopian and Scientific. ABVP was quick to jump in to disrupt the academic exercise, with its divisive and violent politics. After forcibly occupying the office, restraining the members of the study circle, and disrupting the discussion, the members of ABVP attacked the students who wanted to attend the session and study. The office-bearers of ABVP along with the newly inducted members allegedly harassed women and assaulted many students present at the office. When some students attempted to take the injured ones to the hospital, the ABVP members forcibly intercepted the movement and assaulted the student who had fainted. The saga of atrocity didn’t stop here. From shouting caste and gender insensitive cuss words to disrupting democratic dialogue and arbitrarily inciting one-sided violence, these ABVP members damaged property, tore books and broke tambourines. Their sloganeering, which has been recorded, was filled with offensive statements, caste remarks and ridicule.

[[ On the next evening of November 15, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) took out a rally on Monday evening in protest the attack on students by alleged members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Sunday. Hundreds of students took part in the protest rally.  JNUSU had alleged that students belonging to ABVP heckled and attacked students who had booked the JNU union room for a reading session on Sunday, November 14. Several students sustained injuries during the attack.

In a statement posted on social media right before the attack started, Students’ Federation of India (SFI), JNU, said: “In a continuation of ABVP’s hooliganism on campus — the union room booked by an organisation to conduct a reading session has been occupied by them. The organisation has been campaigning for the conduct of this session for the past few days.”  The statement also added that ABVP goons were refusing to leave the room and were resorting to tactics of criminal intimidation. “SFI-JNU calls on all democratic students to reach the union office and protect campus democracy from ABVP’s lumpenism,” it said.]]

October 29, 2021, an obvious pattern emerges from the ABVP’s intimidation tactics when a similar major incident propagating hate against minorities, and which resulted in the violence against students from the minority communities took place (October 29, 2021). Then, the Centre for Women’s Studies, JNU, had announced a webinar on ‘Gendered Resistance & Fresh Challenges in Post 2019 Kashmir’. Without understanding the academic context in which the webinar was being organized, ABVP complained against the same and began its usual extremist narrativization. The webinar was cancelled followed by a Victory March organized by ABVP, which was filled with threats and warnings to the students. Abuse and hate were taken to the next level when ABVP members reportedly also verbally abused minority students.

January 16, 2020, Anti-CAA protest: ABVP members attacked us at Visva Bharati University, alleged SFI activists; The two students who were attacked had taken part in a protest BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta on January 8. The ABVP has, however, denied its involvement and said the activists are not a part of the organisation. Two students of Visva Bharati University were allegedly attacked by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists for supporting anti-CAA protest inside the campus. The two students belonging to the Students Federation of India (SFI) had taken part in a protest BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta on January 8. The ABVP has, however, denied its involvement and said the activists are not a member of the organisation.

The students from the Economics department – identified as Swapnaneel Mukhopadhyay and Phalguni Pan– have reportedly been admitted to Pearson Memorial Hospital. According to them, ABVP members Achintya Bagdi and Sabbir Ali beat them up with sticks when they were returning to their hostel and tried to attack them inside the hospital. They also alleged that the guards had to lock the hospital gates to prevent another assault.  On January 8, SFI members confined BJP MP Dasgupta, Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty, and several others to a room for over seven hours to protest the university’s decision to invite Dasgupta to deliver a lecture on the new citizenship law.

January 5, 2020:   ABVP members barged into JNU hostels, attacked students with sticks, claims JNUSU. Students at Sabarmati Hostel, Mahi Mandvi Hostel, Periyar Hostel of the JNU were attacked on Sunday evening. The JNUSU has alleged that the attack was orchestrated by RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). “The ABVP attackers, with covered faces, are trying to enter Periyar Hostel by climbing the pipes,” the JNUSU said on Twitter, adding, “ABVP members wearing masks were moving around on the campus with lathis, rods, and hammers”.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and a few faculty members reportedly helped the masked mob enter the campus to unleash a brutal attack on students and teachers of the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on January 5. While the Delhi Police has portrayed the JNU violence case as a result of a clash between “Right” and “Left”, it was in fact an ABVP-led attack, assisted by some newly-recruited faculty members who sympathise with the saffron students’ group and the university administration helmed by vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar had then stated the JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union). At around 6 am, on January 5, 2020 a few masked guards were seen moving aggressively towards a group of protesting students who sat in front of the School of Biotechnology (SBT). Alarmed, students made many SOS calls to JNUSU office-bearers. When JNUSU president, Aishe Ghosh reached there at around 7 am, the masked guards allegedly slapped and assaulted her. He said a few ABVP students also joined the guards to beat up protesting students. It is after this incident, according to various students, that the protesting group switched off the main switch of the CIS server system which is near the SBT in protest.

The situation soon escalated after ABVP jumped in. ABVP leaders on campus mobilised their activists in front of the School of International Studies between 10 am to noon. Moon claimed that faculty members like Tapan Kumar Bihari, Ashwini Mohapatra, Jaikhlong Basumatary and Nagendra Srinivas came in support of the ABVP and led the group which assaulted many students, including many women, through the day. He also alleged that the said teachers repeatedly provoked the ABVP activists to beat up protesting students. JNUSU general secretary Satish Chandra Yadav was also attacked by this mob. On the same day, the ABVP mob gathered at various places of the university and assaulted many students without any provocation. It has been alleged that all this happened in the presence of the police personnel who were stationed in JNU since 23 December.

The JNUSU even named many ABVP members and a few faculty members who were seen participating in attacks on students. It also released videos which show them as part of the mob, demanding an inquiry against them. It also showed emails sent from JNU administration from the time when the registrar had claimed the servers were down. The JNUSU said that servers were functioning throughout and there was no grave damage to them because of the protesting students. To date, despite video and electronic footage revealing the aggressive activities of the ABVP-led mob, not only has no fair investigation taken place, but no one has been detained or arrested.

January 17, 2017:  Brutally carrying on its ‘campaign’ to free Delhi University’s campus of ‘anti-national’ elements, the supremacist Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad attacked other students protesting the violent way the RSS-linked organisation had disrupted a programme at Ramjas college the previois day. The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) All India Students’ Association (AISA) had organized a march from Ramjas college to Maurice Nagar police station to protest the cancellation of a seminar in which JNU’s Umar Khalid was supposed to speak. The Hindustan Times had then that at least 100 police personnel in riot gear were brought in while the Hindu also reported   that the police resorted to lathi-charging to control the situation.

As dozens of thugs wielding lathis laid siege inside the college, students and teachers who were participating in the march to uphold the freedom of expression on campus were caught in the fray. According to a detailed NDTV report at the time, at least 20 people were injured, and some journalists were also caught in the clashes. While the ABVP denied attacking the students and teachers, Shehla Rashid, then Vice President, JNUSU, who was also invited to Ramjas for the seminar, has been quoted by NDTV as saying, “We were attacked, the cops did nothing. Our students were bleeding. They hurled bricks at us…They pulled the hair of women.”

October 15, 2016, Sinister disappearance of PHD student, Najeeb who had been pursuing a Master’s Degree in Biotechnology from New Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). One evening -in October 2016 –after a minor altercation with the aggressive members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the very next day he went missing. Najeeb’s friends have suspected foul play and Fatima started demanding an explanation about what happened to her son. No action has been taken against the ABVP or its members.

March-April 2016: Criminalisation of Protests and Incarceration of Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar (this was repeated in 2018 and today, Khalid remains a serious target, being in jail for several months over the protests to the Citizenship Act 2019-NPR-NRC under the dreaded UAPA law.

January 17, 2016, the Institutional murder (suicide) of Student Icon, Rohith Vemula at the Hyderabad Central University led to sustained protests over the suspension of Appa Rao Podile, the vice chancellor. Every attempt was made to curtail and prevent the protests.

Immunity comes with State Power

All these listed incidents, and they are simply illustrative of the ABVP’s growing clout on India’s campuses, reveal how immunity from swift and fair action from law enforcement comes from the proximity of the outfit with state power. Be it Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, or the capital city of Delhi – policed by a force under the direct control of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) this immunity flows from the ideology of the outfits in power.

Questioning, thinking probing young minds with the ability for independent and analytical thought are a threat to a regime that believes in policing free expression and stratifying and controlling state and society.

In all the instances here, and more which may not be listed here, the strategy is simple. After creating an atmosphere of intimidation and terror, ABVP members use violence accompanied by verbal abuse. They are rarely pulled up, no police action, never do they face prosecution. Opponents to their ideology are “warned” by ABVP men and women on the prowl to “leave the campus.” Bullying is common, the hooliganism includes use of ridicule, obscene gestures, sexist parlance and even threats of gendered violence, rape. Provocative and stigma-driven slogans against student voices from India’s minority communities has cornered and isolated them further. Yet, despite these organized attacks, student organisations have resisted.

India’s campuses, once safe, diverse, defiant, and vibrant are today sought to be converted into controlled military camp like outfits, policed and fearful. Despite crude and consistent political attacks however, vibrancy still prevails, and the battle is still, very much on.

Related:

Hate watch: ABVP alleged WhatsApp chats leaked; calls for targeted crimes exposed?

M.P. police: author of book on Collective Violence & Criminal Justice’ arrested from Pune

Madhya Pradesh: Home minister Narottam Mishra orders arrest of author, threatens to revoke PHD

Six Govt Law college teachers taken off duty after ABVP complaint: MP

The post ABVP’s strong arm tactics have received a soft touch from law enforcement & the Indian state: 2014-2022 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Former JNU students’ union president, CPI (M) leader from Bihar Kanhaiya Kumar formally joined the Congress party on September 28. Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, announced that he will extend support to the party now, and perhaps join it at a later date.

While speculations about Kanhaiya Kumar and  Jignesh Mevani, joining or associating with the Congress in a major way had been doing the rounds for sometime now, they chose to make their decision public on September 28, soon after they accompanied Rahul Gandhi to pay respects to the monument dedicated to Shaheed Bahgat Singh. The evening press conference, streamed live, and the online audience of over 12 thousand viewers at one point, was proof of the iconic status the two young leaders enjoy, especially among the youth. Their joining and support, is one of the most crucial moments for the party which has seen a some senior member exit including former Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev (now with the Trinamool Congress,) former Union Minister Jitin Prasada (now with the Bharatiya Janata Party) and veteran Goa leader Luizinho Faleiro, not to mention the dramatic resignations of Amrinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu from their posts. The party is gearing up to fight the Assembly elections in key states including  Uttar Pradesh,  Gujarat, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand in 2020. 

LIVE: Special Press Conference by Shri @kcvenugopalmp, Shri @rssurjewala and Shri @BHAKTACHARANDAS at the AICC HQ. https://t.co/cwYVpZXvRH

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 28, 2021

Shri @kanhaiyakumar & Shri @jigneshmevani80 join the Congress party in the presence of Shri @RahulGandhi. pic.twitter.com/ceJMXJPs8P

— Congress (@INCIndia) September 28, 2021

Jignesh Mewani, a Dalit leader, is especially popular and has won his Vadgam constituency seat as an independent MLA, the Congress had not fielded its candidate in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly election, against him. For now Mevani, told the media that he has extended his support to the party but cannot join it formally due to “technical reasons” as he is a sitting MLA as an independent in Gujarat. 

As the state goes to polls next year, Jignesh Mewani will be the man to watch. After appointing Charanjit Singh Channi as Punjab’s first Dalit Cheif Minister, the Congress is likely to work towards earning the support of Gujarat’s Dalit community as well. Mewani, who got as warm a welcome as Kumar, said he “could not join the Congress formally due to technical reasons. I am an independent MLA, if I join a party, I may not continue as an MLA…I am part of the Congress ideologically but I will fight the upcoming Gujarat polls from Congress symbol.”  Mewani, may or may not be projected as the CM face of the party in Gujarat, but he will have a key role to play in the 2022 state elections. 

Randeep Singh Surjewala, General Secretary, Member, Congress Working Committee was effusive in his welcome, saying that Kumar and Mevani will strengthen the party. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal added that the party was looking forward to working with the two young leaders to combat “fascist forces ruling this country today” adding that Kanhaiya Kumar had “fought against fundamentalism as a student leader.” 

Kumar told the media that he was joining the Congress “because it’s not just a party, it’s an idea. It’s the country’s oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on ‘democratic’” , He had joined the CPI ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and contested from his hometown Begusarai, but had lost to BJP’s Giriraj Singh. He had reportedly been in talks with Rahul Gandhi  for a few weeks and formally signed the joining paperwork in his presence.

Both did not mince their words and were openly critical of the right wing ideology of the RSS, and BJP, as being followers of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse. The two leaders who are well known for their articulate and  vociferous opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and it’s right wing allies, swore allegiance to  the Congress on the birth anniversary of revolutionary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, a national youth icon of his time and beyond.

झूठ के साम्राज्य में सच से ही क्रांति आती है।

नए-पुराने सभी साथियों को मिलकर इस सत्याग्रह में भाग लेना होगा।#BhagatSingh pic.twitter.com/NycbXjHI04

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 28, 2021

Punjab’s political pot boils away

Hours after Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned as Punjab Congress chief, it was reported that the resignation was not yet accepted by the party. His resignation came as a surprise as the state had just taken a step towards stability with the change of Chief Minister. However the cricketer-turned-politician tweeted his “resignation letter” as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee leader, and once again exposed the weak links in the Punjab Congress, even though he stated that he “will continue to serve the Congress.”

pic.twitter.com/L5wdRql5t3

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) September 28, 2021

According to news reports Sidhu was upset about changes made by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, especially the appointment of SS Randhawa as a minister. The former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, too made it a point to taunt his bete noir Navjot Sidhu.

I told you so…he is not a stable man and not fit for the border state of punjab.

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) September 28, 2021

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Can detain activists, cannot detain anger: Jignesh Mevani
JNU sedition case: Court directs police to supply chargesheet copies to Kanhaiya, Umar and 8 others

The post Eventful tuesday for Congress: Kanhaiya Kumar joins, Jignesh Mevani supports, Navjot Sidhu ‘quits’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The news has all been attributed to ‘sources’, but the buzz is loud and clear that  Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, and former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar of the CPI, will soon join the Congress. Speculations had been doing the rounds about Kanhaiya Kumar’s possible move to the Congress for a while, however, Jignesh Mevani’s name has only recently cropped up. It has been reported that Kumar who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Begusarai, Bihar (where he lost to the BJP strongman Giriraj Singh) had already met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The two young leaders may get plum position in the party, and NDTV reported that Mevani, a Dalit leader elected to the Gujarat Assembly Vadgam constituency as an independent “could be made Working President of the party’s Gujarat unit.”  He has ‘appreciated’ the Congress in this recent tweet:

The decision of appointing Charanjit singh ji as the CM of Punjab is a message that @RahulGandhi and @INCIndia have given.

It will have tremendous impact amongst not just dalits but all the subaltern masses.

For dalits, the move is not just brilliant but soothing too.

— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) September 20, 2021

According to the report, Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh Mevani “will join the Congress – likely during an event on October 2”,  adding that “hey were scheduled to join on September 28 – on the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh.” Mevani move to the Congress, ahead of Gujarat elections next year, is being compared to the appointment of a Dalit CM  in Punjab. The Dalit voters are emerging as a political force the party can no longer ignore. The two are also popular young leaders and the party it appears has recognised the need to bring youth to the forefront of its leadership, which till now has been helmed by ‘elders’. All eyes are set on state elections in 2022 and the Lok Sabha election in 2024.

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Can detain activists, cannot detain anger: Jignesh Mevani

JNU sedition case: Court directs police to supply chargesheet copies to Kanhaiya, Umar and 8 others

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Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dr. Pankaj Sharma (Patiala House court) has reportedly directed the Delhi Police to give copies of the chargesheet to former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar, Dr. Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya along with seven others accused in the JNU sedition case.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) has put up the matter for April 7 to scrutinise documents in the case and also granted bail to seven accused who were not arrested in the case earlier. They are Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat and Khalid Bashir Bhatt.

LiveLaw reported that Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban have already been granted bail in the matter and released the other accused persons on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs. 25,000 each.

In February this year, CMM Dr. Pankaj Sharma had taken cognisance of the chargesheet filed by Delhi Police against all ten accused and summoned them to be present in court on March 15.  In pursuance of this order, all 10 were present in court yesterday before the CMM at the Patiala House court.

Dr. Umar Khalid was produced from jail where he is presently lodged in judicial custody related to the Delhi Riots case. Having completed over six months in custody, Dr. Khalid was arrested by Delhi Police’s Special Cell on September 14 last year and booked under UAPA for allegedly giving provocative speeches appealing to the citizens to come out on the streets and block the roads during the visit of US President Donald Trump to spread propaganda at an international level.

This sedition case is in connection with an FIR registered on February 11, 2016 for alleged “anti-national” sloganeering at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru, convicted and executed for the Indian Parliament Attack in 2001.

Besides sedition, they have been booked for criminal conspiracy, rioting, forgery, being a member of unlawful assembly and voluntarily causing hurt under the relevant Indian Penal Code sections.

According to a LiveLaw report, a chargesheet in the case was filed before the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate, naming the above ten accused persons in January 2019 that alleges that Kumar had incited the mob to shout anti-India slogans backed by CCTV footage, mobile footage and documentary evidence. The chargesheet was however rejected by the Magistrate on January 19, 2019, citing lack of requisite sanctions.

Thereafter, in January 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government cleared the path for the prosecution of all accused persons in the sedition case.

The matter will be heard on April 7.

Related:

JNU Sedition case: Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and others to face trial

Umar Khalid arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell

Delhi gov’t paves way for prosecution of Kanhaiya Kumar for sedition

As police wait at the gate, JNU students accused of sedition say they won’t refuse arrest

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Kanhaiya Kumar, the fiery young leader, who first made it to the headlines when he was a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), is now being tracked for his tryst with mainstream politics. He is reported to have met with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s aide, giving rise to political speculation. Even though he is not of the same ideology, Kanhaiya has not really been sharply critical towards Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar who is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). So when the young politician, hailed as the “the CPI’s rising star in Bihar ” on Sunday, met an “old acquaintance”  Ashok Choudhary, who is a minister and aide of the CM, political grapevine was abuzz.

Meanwhile, it is important to note that a Delhi court Monday took cognisance of the chargesheet of the 2016 JNU Sedition Case,and summoned Kumar and the other nine accused to appear on March 15, 2021 reported the Hindustan Times. This summon comes a year after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government cleared the path for the prosecution of those accused of Sedition. Ironically the AAP had refused to grant this permission in September 2019. After the Delhi Government granted sanction for his trial, Kanhaiya Kumar had questioned the timing of the move and alleged that this was being done with an eye on Bihar elections that were due that year, saying, “According to law the charge sheet should be filed within 90 days. They took years and timed the filing of the chargesheet with the Lok Sabha elections. Now, Vidhan Sabha elections are coming up and they have sanctioned a trial.” 

Kumar, along with others named, was accused of raising seditious slogans at the JNU campus on February 9, 2016, during an event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. According to a report in the Indian Express, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Patiala House Courts) Dr Pankaj Sharma, took cognisance of the chargesheet against Kumar, Syed Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain Gattoo, Muneeb Hussain Gattoo, Umar Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat Ali and Khalid Bashir Bhatt, and said, “The sanction to prosecute accused persons has already been filed by the Home Department, GNCT [Delhi government], dated February 27, 2020. After careful perusal of the chargesheet and consideration of the material, all the accused persons are summoned to face trial and they have been summoned through investigation officer for March 15, 2021.”

The accused have been charged under IPC sections 124A (sedition), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 143, 149 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). As reported earlier, it was in February 2020, that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said if the BJP were to be voted to power, it would grant prosecution sanction against Kumar and Khalid, as well as JNU PhD student Sharjeel Imam, “within one hour” of forming the government. Later that month, the AAP government gave police the sanctions needed to prosecute the accused. 

According to the news report, now Choudhary’s meeting with Kanhaiya, has taken place “at a time when the charismatic young politician is said to have been left mortified by a censure motion that the CPI recently passed against him. The party action had followed alleged manhandling of a key CPI official attached to the state headquarters here.”

Earlier, it was reported that Kumar and his party had some tension brewing between them during the Lok Sabha elections when the CPI reportedly “insisted” that Kumar share a part of money he had raised through crowd-funding. He had fought and lost elections  from his home constituency Begusarai, Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh had emerged winner.

Related:

Civil society condemns arrest of Umar Khalid

Northeast Delhi riots: Crime Branch questions activist Umar Khalid again

Delhi gov’t paves way for prosecution of Kanhaiya Kumar for sedition

Kanhaiya attacked for 8th time during campaign in Bihar

The post Is JNU alumnus Kanhaiya Kumar warming up to the JDU in Bihar? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dr. Pankaj Sharma of the Patiala House Court has taken cognisance of the chargesheet filed by Delhi Police against former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, and summoned all ten accused on March 15, reported The Indian Express.

The CMM said, “The sanction to prosecute accused persons has already been filed by the Home Department, GNCT [Delhi government], dated February 27, 2020. After careful perusal of the chargesheet and consideration of the material, all the accused persons are summoned to face trial and they have been summoned through investigation officer for March 15, 2021”.

This sedition case is in connection with the alleged ‘anti-national’ sloganeering at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru, convicted and executed for the Indian Parliament Attack in 2001.

Besides sedition, former JNU student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain Gattoo, Muneeb Hussain Gattoo, Umar Gul, Rayees Rasool, Basharat Ali and Khalid Bashir Bhatt have been booked for criminal conspiracy, rioting, forgery, being a member of unlawful assembly and voluntarily causing hurt under the relevant Indian Penal Code sections, as per an IE report.

According to Scroll.in, the Delhi Police have furnished both oral and electronic evidence to press sedition and other charges against Kanhaiya Kumar. The police have seized video footage where “he is seen leading the students, who were raising anti-national slogans”, the chargesheet reportedly reads.

The IE report also stated that on February 5 last year, before the elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told a poll meeting that if the BJP were to be voted to power, it would grant sanction to prosecute Kumar and Khalid, as well as JNU student Sharjeel Imam “within an hour” of forming the Delhi government.

On February 28 last year, according to ThePrint, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government gave Delhi police the green signal to prosecute all accused in the JNU sedition matter. The Deputy Secretary (Home) stated: “Whereas on perusal of the chargesheet under Sections 124-A and 120-B IPC at Vasant Kunj (North) police station, and on consideration of the allegations made in case, and other material and evidences placed on record, it appears to the government of NCT of Delhi that the accused persons, have prima facie committed an offence under Section 124-A and 120-B IPC”.

Dr. Umar Khalid was arrested by Delhi Police on September 13, 2020 in connection with the North East Delhi riots and has been in jail since then. Booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, by the Crime Branch, Special Cell of Delhi Police, they have alleged that the Delhi riots were linked to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests organised by Khalid.

Sharjeel Imam, who is lodged in Tihar jail, has been booked for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches during the anti-citizenship law protests at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia University and also for his alleged role in instigating and abetting the Jamia riots of December 2019.

Related:

As police wait at the gate, JNU students accused of sedition say they won’t refuse arrest

Umar Khalid arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell

JNU PhD scholar Sharjeel Imam arrested again, now for Delhi riots

MHA, Delhi Govt sanction Umar Khalid’s prosecution under UAPA

Delhi police granted 2 more months to file chargesheet in Delhi riots case under UAPA

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On Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government cleared the path for the prosecution of youth leader Kanhaiya Singh for sedition. The sudden move by the Delhi government has led to a flurry of speculation as to the motive behind suddenly throwing Kanhaiya under the bus despite their carefully cultivated image as a party of the people.

AAP MLA and spokesperson in a statement on the subject said, “The Delhi government, as a matter of policy and as a matter of principle, does not and has not intervened in any of such cases. Our government has not stopped prosecution in any case, whatsoever, in the last five years.” He also dubbed it a purely procedural matter. This is significant because AAP had refused this permission last September. Moreover, in December the Delhi High court refused to give the Delhi government directions to give sanction for prosecution.

Hours after the Delhi Government granted sanction for his trial, Kanhaiya Kumar questioned the timing of the move and alleged that this was being done with an eye on Bihar elections that are due later this year, “According to law the chargesheet should be filed within 90 days. They took years and timed the filing of the chargesheet with the Lok Sabha elections. Now, Vidhan Sabha elections are coming up and they have sanctioned a trial.” However, Kumar did not blame Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “The Delhi Police reports to Amit Shah. Now I urge that a speedy trial be conducted in a fast track court, so that the truth can come out quickly,” he said.

Kanhaiya further made a series of tweets:
 

दिल्ली सरकार को सेडिशन केस की परमिशन देने के लिए धन्यवाद। दिल्ली पुलिस और सरकारी वक़ीलों से आग्रह है कि इस केस को अब गंभीरता से लिया जाए, फॉस्ट ट्रैक कोर्ट में स्पीडी ट्रायल हो और TV वाली ‘आपकी अदालत’ की जगह क़ानून की अदालत में न्याय सुनिश्चित किया जाए। सत्यमेव जयते।

— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) February 28, 2020

सेडिशन केस में फ़ास्ट ट्रैक कोर्ट और त्वरित कार्रवाई की जरुरत इसलिए है ताकि देश को पता चल सके कि कैसे सेडिशन क़ानून का दुरूपयोग इस पूरे मामले में राजनीतिक लाभ और लोगों को उनके बुनियादी मसलों से भटकाने के लिए किया गया है।

— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) February 28, 2020

The case deals with alleged seditious slogans raised on February 9, 2016 at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) during a protest to condemn the hanging of Afzal Guru. The other youth leaders accused in the case were Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.

Khalid and Bhattacharya tweeted their joint statement:

(1/3) Statement by Me and Anirban:

The news of Delhi govt granting sanction to sedition case against us doesn’t trouble us at all. We are confident of our innocence, have full faith in the judiciary & have ourselves been demanding the case against us to be tried in the courts.

— Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) February 28, 2020

(2/3) The ensuing trial will vindicate us & prove that the media trial at the behest of the ruling regime was false, malicious & politically motivated. We have lived under the shadow of these false charges for far too long. Finally, sab doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani hoga!

— Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) February 28, 2020

(3/3) And as we will defend ourselves in the court, we will expose the lies of the ruling regime and its fake claims of being nationalist.

— Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) February 28, 2020

The Delhi government’s move granting saction for prosecution has drawn condemnation from all secular and liberal quarters. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted:

Delhi Government is no less ill-informed than the central government in its understanding of sedition law.

I strongly disapprove of the sanction granted to prosecute Mr Kanhaiya Kumar and others for alleged offences under sections 124A and 120B of IPC.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 29, 2020

Filmmaker Onir pulled no punches as he tweeted:

Shame @ArvindKejriwal . Most disappointed turncoat . With #KanhaiyaKumar @UmarKhalidJNU . The hypocrisy of the govt will be unmasked pic.twitter.com/cjv0XIwziM

— Onir (@IamOnir) February 29, 2020

Talk show host and former Bollywood diva Simi Garewal also appeared disheartened by the move as she tweeted:

In this one step towards prosecuting #KanhaiyaKumar I have lost all the respect I ever had for @ArvindKejriwal and @AamAadmiParty. I regret that I ever defended or supported them.

— Simi Garewal (@Simi_Garewal) February 28, 2020

Meanwhile, it is also curious that the move comes close at the heels of stones, acid pouches and petrol bombs being recovered from the terrace of a property owned by AAP leader Tahir Hussain. While Hussain maintains that he had been forced to flea the location fearing for his life well before the discovery and that he is being framed, it cannot be denied that this has generated negative publicity for AAP. This is a highly politically charged atmosphere where AAP is already facing flak for not being seen on the ground during the initial days comforting victims of violence or making any statement condemning the attack or appealing for peace until much later.
 

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Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kanhaiya Kumar’s convoy was attacked in Bihar when he was travelling from Buxar to Arrah where stones were thrown at his convoy. This was the eighth attack on him in Bihar where he has been protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), reported News 18.

Kumar is on a state-wide campaign “Jan Gan Man” campaign that was launched on January 30 and is set to conclude on February 29.  

आज जन-गण-मन यात्रा का क़ाफ़िला बक्सर में सभा करने के बाद आरा पंहुचेगा। गोडसे-प्रेमियों ने आरा में होने वाली सभा के मंच मे कल रात आग लगा दी है लेकिन हम तो जाएँगे मोहब्बत का कारवाँ लेकर और लगाएँगे नफ़रत से आज़ादी के नारे। ?

इंक़लाब मंच का मोहताज नही होता दोस्तों। ?

— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) February 14, 2020

Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed Khan who has been accompanying Kumar on the tour told PTI, “Our cavalcade has been attacked many times since the ‘Jan Gan Man Yatra’ began on January 30. Today was, indeed, a close shave. It was the first time that the vehicle in which we were sitting was attacked, though thankfully we escaped unhurt.”

He added, “We were following a police vehicle deployed by the state government in the wake of the previous attacks. The driver pushed the brakes upon noticing 25-30 youths, some of them on motorcycles and others on foot, standing on the roadside armed with sticks, stones and wearing headbands with menacing slogans inscribed.”

“Unfortunately, the police vehicle had gone some distance ahead and the attackers pounced on us. Several pieces of rock hit our vehicle, damaging it to an extent that it was rendered unusable. In the meantime, the policemen realised something was amiss and they rushed back and tried to disperse the mob,” he explained.

Manish Kumar, executive editor, NDTV who was with Kumar on the present tour said that a group of people with faces covered and stones in their hands were standing on the national highway that led to Arrah. Kanhaiya’s supporters who were travelling with him gathered around the group, armed with sticks after Kanhaiya got out of the car to reason with the crowd. But the group of masked men instigated Kanhaiya’s supporters which ensued in stone pelting.

Manish also says that the masked men raised cries of ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro s****on ko,” a slogan that has come to be associated with the ministers of the BJP and the party’s supporters who feel people protesting against the CAA-NPR-NRC are ‘anti-nationals’ and must be shot.

The police, Manish says, did not use their batons to rein in the group of masked men who were targeting Kanhaiya.

One of Kanhaiya’s associates was gravely hurt by a stone that was thrown in his direction and was sent to the hospital. Some of the motorcyclists were also hurt in the incident.

Bhojpur Superintendent of Police Sushil Kumar was apprised of the incident and said that all injured persons were hospitalized and post investigations, the culprits would be brought to book. He also denied that the police were mere spectators during the incident and said that a police car too was damaged in the scuffle.

The last attack on Kanhaiya had taken place on Tuesday in Gaya where prior to reaching the venue, his convoy was attacked by a group of motorcyclists who hurled stones at the vehicles. The same day, the organizers of the tour put out a statement that said, “The slogans raised by the motorcyclists clearly indicated their adherence to a particular ideology.”

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The post Kanhaiya attacked for 8th time during campaign in Bihar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to direct the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to grant sanction for the prosecution of former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case registered against him in 2016.

A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar quashed the petition by former BJP MLA Nand Kishor Garg saying it could not pass any direction in the matter and it was for the Delhi government to decide as per existing rules, policy, law and facts of the case whether or not to grant approval for the prosecution.

The court, while disposing off the petition, said it appeared that the petitioner had some personal interest in the FIR lodged against Kumar and others in relation to the case.

The plea filed through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi sought issuance of guidelines “for expeditious disposal of criminal cases of serious nature where there is involvement of the influential persons as accused”. The HC turned down the demand and observed that there were enough meticulous laws in place with respect to grant of sanction by the state government.

The petition also alleged that Kumar’s case highlighted the lackadaisical approach of the government as it had “failed” to grant the sanction letter which is required prior to taking cognisance of the charge sheet.

The petitioner had asked the court to direct the Delhi government to constitute a high-powered committee to look into the delay of the procedural compliances, but the HC denied the request saying that the State had enough number of officers and there was no need of a super panel.

In his petition, Garg claimed that “speedier outcome of the cases would act as deterrence to the community as well as prevention of crimes”. “This approach of the government seems to be sending message to the citizenry that the law can be differently applied to different citizen due to their proximity to the political establishment,” the petition contended.

Chronology

Feb 9, 2016: A protest march was held in JNU to commemorate the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where allegedly ‘anti-India’ slogans were raised.

Feb 10: The JNU administration ordered a ‘discliplinary’ inquiry into the event.

Feb 11: The Delhi Police registered a case against unknown persons following a complaint by BJP MP Mahesh Giri and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Feb 12: Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested

Feb 13: He was remanded to three days in custody on account of sedition charges

Feb 15: Violence erupted in Patiala House court ahead of the hearing in Kanhaiya’s case. Two FIRs were registered – one against lawyers manhandling journalists and the students, and the second against BJP MLA O P Sharma who was seen roughing up students in the court.

Feb 17: Another scuffle broke out where men dressed up as lawyers allegedly beat up scribes and students ahead of the hearing. Defence lawyer Vrinda Grover said that a man dressed up as a lawyer beat up Kanhaiya in the court premises and the police didn’t do anything; an act in complete violation of the SC order

Feb 18: Kanhaiya files a bail application in the Supreme Court (SC)

Feb 19: SC transfers bail plea to Delhi HC asking police to ensure Kanhaiya’s security. He moves Delhi HC for bail

Feb 23: Delhi Police opposes bail plea

Feb 23: JNU students Anirban Bhattacharya and Umar Khalid move Delhi HC for police protection before surrender

Feb 24: Anirban and Umar arrested by Delhi Police

Feb 25: Kanhaiya remanded to one day custody

Feb 26: Kanhaiya is sent to Tihar Jail

Mar 2: HC grants six months interim bail to Kanhaiya

Mar 3: Delhi HC orders Kanhaiya’s release

August 26: Kanhaiya, Anirban and Umar granted bail by Delhi court

January 14, 2019: On January 14 this year, the Delhi Police filed a 12,000 page chargesheet against ten people including student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for raising ‘seditious slogans’ during an event held at the JNU campus in 2016. The charges were filed under Sections 124 (A) (sedition), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 465 (forgery), 471 (using genuine, forged document), 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 149 (unlawful assembly with common objective), 147 (rioting) and 120B.

Others named in the chargesheet included Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rasool, Bashir Bhat and Basharat.

The chargesheet was filed after three years, just before the Lok Sabha elections.

(Source – The Indian Express)

Currently the sedition case against Kanhaiya stands disposed. The file on granting sanction has moved back and forth between the Delhi government’s home ministry and law department at least six times since January 14 reported the Hindustan Times.

Jan 17: Two former members of the ABVP claimed that the row at JNU had been planned by members of their organization. The trending hashtag at the time #ShutdownJNU was planned by the BJP, RSS and ABVP they said.

Related:

ABVP planned JNU row in 2016 and shouted anti-national slogans: ex ABVP members
JNU students rejoice as Delhi HC sets aside Penalty on Kanhaiya Kumar

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