JNU student union leader Kanhaiya Kumar assaulted at Patiala court
NB: A student under court protection - as he must be, since he was being taken under police custody to court - is physically assaulted by hooligans (who are also lawyers owing allegiance to the Sangh Parivar) in complete defiance of law and civilised behaviour. This despite the uproar over the recent assaults by the same hooligans on lawyers and media-persons two days ago. Here in full view of the entire world, is the invasion of the public sphere with the controlled mobs of the Sangh Parivar. Let us remember: the threat of fascism is exhibited at the very first moment that organs of state tolerate or enable illegal and violent activities of fanatical cadre or crowds. As Franz Neumann observes in his classic study of Nazism, ‘(the
counter revolution)… tried many forms and devices, but soon learned that it
could come to power only with the help of the state machine and never against
it... in the centre of the counter revolution stood the judiciary.’ (Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of
National Socialism, 1963, p 27. From
The Modi government and its Home Minister may kindly tell the citizens of India where we are headed. A government that condones violence and protects hooligans with the help of the police is a tyranny, pure and simple. This is the face presented to the world by the leaders of the Sangh Parivar, who are seemingly obsessed by India's 'greatness'. Officials, whether judicial, police or bureaucrats, may remember their oath to the Indian Constitution. DS
SC takes cognisance of the unruly scenes outside court and
has sent a delegation to assess the situation outside the Patiala House Court
complex. SC has decided to sitbeyond 4 pm till it gets a report from the
delegation. SC was informed by senior advocate Indira Jaising that
Kanhaiya Kumar has been attacked in court premises. Kanhaiya Kumar was
reportedly beaten up outside the court premise.
The crisis surrounding Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) is not going to recede any time soon. Apart from an urgent Supreme
Court hearing on the scuffle between lawyers, students, mediapersons and one
BJP MLA, which happened at the Patiala House Courts complex on Monday, Jadavpur
University students and students from Aligarh Muslim University have joined the
JNU students in raising slogans criticising the government.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to give an urgent
hearing on Wednesday to a plea seeking action against those involved when
lawyers attacked journalists and students while a Delhi BJP MLA assaulted a
CPI(M) member at the Patiala House Courts complex in the heart of the National
Capital. Union minister Kiren Rijiju set off another storm hours
before the hearing, asking what the fuss was all about: "Was there a
murder?" he asked.
The petition filed by ND Jaiprakash, an alumnus of JNU, who
was hurt in the violence on Monday, sought action against the people
involved in the violence and over the "inaction" on the part of the
Delhi Police. The petition, which was mentioned before a bench headed by
Chief Justice TS Thakur by senior advocate Indira Jaising, also demanded that
the security measures in the court complex should be such that no person
becomes a victim of violence.
The petition said the violence witnessed in the court not
only endangered the life of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar — arrested in a case
of sedition — but also prevented journalists from carrying out their work of
reporting court proceedings. It said the Kanhaiya will be produced in court
again on expiry of his police remand.
Meanwhile, slogans eulogising parliament attack
mastermind Afzal Guru and demands for "azadi" echoed in
Jadavpur University in Kolkata on Tuesday. Slogans like "Afzal bole azadi, jab tum na doge
azadi, toh chheen lenge azadi, arey chheen ke lenge azadi" were heard
during a torchlight procession brought out at Jadavpur University in protest
against the "atrocities" perpetrated on JNU students by the Narendra Modi government.
The row over JNU started on 9 February when the students'
union leader Kanhaiya Kumar addressed a gathering in the college campus
and protested against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
"What we mean to say is that we don’t need a
patriotism certificate from the RSS. We don’t need a nationalist certificate
from the RSS. We belong to this country and we love the soil. We fight for the
80 percent of the poor population in the country. This is patriotism for us. We
have full faith in Babasaheb, we have full faith in our country’s constitution
and we want to strongly say that if anyone points fingers on the constitution
of this country, be it Sanghi or anyone else, we will not tolerate that
finger."
Kanhaiya Kumar is the first All-India Students Federation
member to become JNUSU president. The student was charged with sedition
and was immediately taken into custody. Vice-Chancellor Jadesh Kumar appealed to the students to not
resort to strikes and protests so that academic functioning of the university
is not hampered. “We also stand for free expression of ideas but I believe
there is no need for strikes as the problem can be solved amicably. We are
reaching out to the entire JNU community to see how the problem can be
addressed but academic functioning of the university is of prime importance and
should not be hampered,” he told reporters.
While the teachers association of the university have raised
questions over the VC allowing a police crackdown on campus, Kumar said he was
bound with the “law of land”. “I never invited the police to enter the campus
and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per
the law of land. We were bound to do so,” he added.
An united Opposition vehemently protested against Union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh's diktat against the
agitating students of JNU. Former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat on
Monday took potshots at Rajnath Singh for saying that
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed backed the Afzal Guru event at
the JNU campus in New Delhi. "The home minister relies on a fake Twitter handle for
information," Karat, who visited the campus on Monday, told the media.
That set the ball rolling. Soon, former Delhi University
professor SAR Geelani was charged with sedition and and questioned for
several hours. Geelani was arrested as early as 3 am on Tuesday. At an event in Press Club on 10 February, in which Geelani
was present on the dais along with three other speakers, a group allegedly had
shouted slogans hailing Afzal Guru. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter,
the police registered a case against Geelani and other unnamed persons on 12
February. Police had claimed that Geelani was booked as he is presumed
to be the "main organiser" of the event.
The growing political tension over these alleged
anti-India protests at he JNU campus which spilled over to a
Delhi court where a mob of lawyers thrashed reporters and mediapersons before
the hearing of Kanhaiya's sedition case. This happened even as the police
present at the spot remained mute spectators, according to an NDTV report. The escalating stand-off over the arrest of Kanhaiya saw the
students going on strike until he is released. Reports on Monday afternoon said
that teachers of the university have decided to join the agitating students
over the ongoing row as well.
"A group of people in the garb of lawyers, but were
sympathisers of the BJP, thrashed JNU students who were produced in court
today… The lawyers indulged in rowdyism. Outside the court, BJP MLA OP Sharma
and a group of hooligans attacked students and journalists. The phones of
journalists were snatched away. These people were aware that they were
journalists… This hooliganism unleashed by the BJP… they may be shouting
patriotic slogans… but that is totally to misguide the people. The hooligans
were led by a BJP MLA," Congress spokesperson PC Chacko is quoted in The Indian Express.
The BJP's Delhi legislator OP Sharma allegedly attacked a
CPI(M) activist and JNU students at the Patiala House Court on Monday. The
party backed Sharma, saying he was opposing anti-India slogans and was hit on
the head first, to which he reacted.
"Main goli bhi maar deta agar bandook hoti. Koi
hamari Ma ko gaali dega to kya usey maaroge nahin (I would have opened
fire if I had a gun. If someone abuses our mother, won’t I beat him up)." This is what Sharma said when he was asked by reporters why did
he thrash a CPM activist in the court premise on Monday. Sharma, who
boasts of a close association with union finance minister Arun Jaitley, is
ill-reputed for his foul language and violent behaviour.
Activists and senior politicians termed the scuffle at
the court as a black day in India's democracy. As a result of Monday's attacks on students and media,
eminent mediapersons on Tuesday decided to protest against Monday's assault.
Senior TV journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai, NDTV's Barkha
Dutt, Sonal Mehrotra and Nidhi Razdan were among the few who led the
march on Tuesday.
also see
RSS men attacked us, police forced us to forego legal action, say Sonepat Dalits
