On 20th February, the Delhi government gave its green signal to the Delhi police to conduct legal proceedings on former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and 9 others in connection with the 2016 Sedition Case.
Crux of the Matter
On 14 January the police filed a charge sheet against Kanhaiya, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and other students for leading a procession that raised the seditious slogans on the JNU campus during an event on 9 February 2016.
The BJP has repeatedly alleged the AAP government for not allowing the proceedings in the JNU case. Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said, “the Kejriwal government perhaps gave the approval in view of the current political situation.” However, Aam Aadmi Party has denied the allegations of blocking the proceedings in the matter. AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, “the Law Department of the Delhi government has given its opinion on this matter to the Home Department after due diligence.”
After this move, Kanhaiya and Umar Khalid tweeted their response and asked the Delhi police to ensure speedy justice.
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
(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
Appointed by the Delhi government, Rahul Mehra will be fighting the case for Delhi Police. Many have brought up his staunch support for Kanhaiya Kumar with respect to the tukde-tukde case in the past.
What’s the 2016 Case? According to the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police; on 9 February 2016 Kanhaiya, Khalid and Bhattacharya led a procession and raised anti-national slogans at an event on the university campus. On 12 February 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested and a case was registered against him on 13 February, under IPC 124-A for Sedition and 120-B Criminal Conspiracy. The police said they have the video evidence where Kanhaiya is seen leading the students who were raising anti-national slogans like “Bharat Tere Tukde Honge InshaAllah InshaAllah“, and “Afzal Hum Sharminda Hai, Tere Qatil Zinda Hai” and which was identified by the witnesses in the videos. They were protesting in an event organized by students at the JNU campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. And after complaints from BJP MP Maheish Girri and the ABVP, Kanhaiya was charged, arrested and later released on bail. Kanhaiya Kumar then had denied all the charges against him and said in an interview that “I dissociate myself from the slogans which were shouted in the event. I have full faith in the Constitution of the country and I always say that Kashmir is an integral part of India.”
Curiopedia
Kanhaiya Kumar is the former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union and presently, the National Executive Council member of Communist Party of India. He joined the AISF and a year later was selected as a delegate at its conference in Patna. After completing his post-graduation with an MA in sociology from Nalanda Open University in Patna; Kanhaiya Kumar moved to Delhi and after ranking first in the JNU entrance exam in 2011, joined JNU where he got his PhD. In 2015 September, Kanhaiya Kumar became the first AISF member to become president of the JNU students’ union. More Info
On 9 February 2016 some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) held a protest on campus against the capital punishment meted out to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat. The organizers of the event were former members of the Democratic Students Union (DSU). The event was held despite the University administration withdrawing permission for the event shortly before it was due to begin, due to protests by members of the ABVP. The event saw clashes between various student groups and according to a video circulated by Zee News a small group of individuals shouted “anti-India” slogans. Thousands of students, faculty, and staff protested the arrest at JNU, and classes at the University were stopped for several days. More Info
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