New Delhi: JNU students, Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who have been punished by the university administration in connection with pro-Afzal Guru event in the campus, on Wednesday began an indefinite hunger strike demanding revocation of punitive action.
Kanhaiya, Umar and Anirban were arrested early this year on the charge of sedition for raising voice against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on February 9 event. Anti-India slogans were apparently raised during that event. All the three students are currently out on interim bail.
The students took out a march from Ganga Dhaba to administration block before beginning the indefinite fast.
On the other hand, five ABVP members have been on hunger strike since Tuesday accusing the university of criminalising patriotism.
On April 25, JNU slapped penalty of Rs 10,000 on JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. ABVP member and JNU students union (JNUSU) joint secretary Saurabh Sharma was also slapped with financial penalty of Rs 10,000. While Umar Khalid was rusticated for one semester, leader Anirban Bhattacharya was rusticated till July 15. Anirban has also been barred from the campus for a period of 5 years from July 23.
Another student Mujeeb Gattoo has been rusticated for two semesters.
The JNU had constituted a five-member high-level enquiry committee to investigate the controversial event at the campus on February 9 and the panel had found some students guilty of violating disciplinary norms and disrupting communal harmony. on the campus.
