Press Statement on JNU and Related Incidents, February, 2016

Apr 01, 2016

Tags: Protests, ABVP, Sedition

Related Issue: Right to Protest, Right to Dissent, Right against unlawful arrest

Issued by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and progressive organisations and individuals in Pune¹

‘Stop attacks on autonomy of educational institutions for political interests !’

‘We condemn the assaults on journalists, teachers and students in Delhi !’

The events in Delhi from the 9th and 16th of February, specifically those in the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Patiala House Court are extremely disturbing and dangerous.

The ruling party and its patronised student wing ABVP actively establishing their hegemony in educational institutions and universities; the viciously well planned strategy of only highlighting the irresponsible slogans given by a fringe group at a programme organised around the death anniversary of Afzal Guru; the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, the President of the JNUSU who had nothing to do with these slogans and who condemned these slogans immediately; the extremely serious charge of ‘sedition’ placed upon Kanhaiya Kumar; the attack upon journalists, JNU professors and students within the court premises by some BJP lawyers and goons in the name of ‘patriotism’, on 15th and 17th February; the blatant disregard of the Supreme Court’s direction and the shameful physical assault on Kanhaiya Kumar: all these are reprehensible and condemnable. The inaction and callousness of the police by remaining bystanders even as antisocial elements took the law into their hands is angering and an onslaught on democracy, and therefore particularly worrying and worthy of contempt.

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) along with like-minded organisations and individuals gathered in Pune city on the 17th of February to analyse these disturbing events and to organise peaceful resistance to the same. This is their appeal to all responsible and peace-loving citizens of our country.

Our Appeal

An act that was brought into force by the British to crush the independence struggle is being used by the Indian government to unleash terror inside the JNU campus. It is illegal to arrest student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and charge him with sedition and inciting violence. Prima facie none of these offences have been committed by Kanhaiya Kumar.

According to numerous witnesses and media reporters who portrayed the situation accurately, Kanhaiya Kumar criticised the policies of the BJP government. On the earlier day, anti India slogans had been made in another event, but no evidence has been gathered by the police about whether they were made by JNU students or not. Neither have the police submitted any evidence to the court implicating Kanhiaya Kumar’s association with those slogans. In fact the police have now reported to the court that they will not oppose Kanhaiya Kumar’s bail application. The sudden turnabout of the police related to someone charged with a serious offence such as sedition in itself casts suspicion on their intervention. Simultaneously, it is noteworthy that three office bearers of the JNU branch of the ABVP have submitted their resignations, condemning the action of the central government.

We condemn the fact that the Vice Chancellor of JNU did not take a firm stand against the totalitarian action of the central government. However, the unstinted and proactive support by the professors of JNU to their students is praiseworthy, also because they have set a model example not only for their own university but for society in general. Even the JNU students have set a sterling record of responsible citizenship by maintaining exemplary solidarity and restraint in spite of the adverse situation they have been forced into. We welcome the constructive resistance that the faculty and students are offering to the administrative and police repression by holding open air classrooms on the topic of ‘nationalism’.

Our demands

We condemn the arrest of the President of the JNUSU Kanhaiya Kumar on baseless charges, and demand that he and other students similarly arrested be released forthwith.
The university should take immediate steps to stop the arrests of students; no one should be arrested without firm proof and merely on suspicion. We demand the instant and unconditional withdrawal of the police force from the JNU campus.
We condemn the irrational and war-mongering statements made by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Minister of Human Resources Smriti Irani against the democratic space provided by the JNU teachers, professors and students for debate and dissent. We demand that strict action be taken against BJP MLA O.P Sharma, his supporters, Vikram Chauhan and other lawyers who participated in the assault and violent activities in the court premises of Patiala House.
We demand strict action against the police and Delhi Police Chief Bhim Sain Bassi who allowed Kanhiaya Kumar to be assaulted by lawyers in the court while he was in police custody.
We stand unitedly and firmly in solidarity with the students and professors of JNU as well as with students all over India, who have bravely resisted the attack of the BJP government on educational institutions. Similar incidents have occurred in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII Pune) and the Central University in Hyderabad. This has precipitated an adverse and highly volatile situation. We demand that all terrorising and arm-twisting tactics used for political gain be stopped immediately so that students can concentrate on their education.

We believe that the only way to resolve such conflicts is by meaningful and heartfelt dialogue. Extreme, arbitrary police action and substitution of a fair and just legal trial with public threats of shooting people to create terror cannot result in any positive alternatives. Students are enduring the adverse impact of divisiveness existing in our society today.

We condemn all political and fundamentalist groups who are intent on destroying democracy in India and who use violence and terror instead of democratic methods in order to increase their political base. Citizens may wonder whether it was appropriate to observe the death anniversary of Afzal Guru who was given the death penalty by the Supreme Court, but this topic needs open discussion and debate. It would be pertinent to read the judgement carefully and observe how the impact of popular expectation from the courts overshadowed the actual evidence found against him. We need to become aware of how the politicisation of the Kashmir issue by vested interests has distorted an already complex problem. We need to encourage and welcome public dialogue and open discussion on such sensitive issues.

We All – For Democracy !

Dr. Ramesh Awasthi, Anvar Rajan, Milind Chavan, Dr. Manisha Gupte (People’s Union for Civil Liberties – PUCL), Maharashtra; Suniti S.R, Milind Champanerkar, Dr. Suhas Kolhekar, Dr. Vishwambhar Chowdhary, Prasad Bagwe (National Alliance of People’s Movements – NAPM); Mukta Manohar (Pune Municipal Workers’ Union); Bhalchandra Kerkar (Shramik); Prof Subhash Ware (Aam Aadmi Party); Nirmala Sathe (Alochana); Dr. Sanjeevani Kulkarni (Prayas, Palakniti); Nilima Sahasrabuddhe (Palakniti); Hrishikesh, Mangal (Lokayat); Dr. Hemlata Pisal (MASUM); Prathamesh Patil (Sumbaran); Dr. Sunita (FMES, IJME); Jayshree Awade (PIPFPD); Sandesh Kulkarni (Samarpan Sewa Sanstha, Raigad); Sunil Tambe, Ganesh Vispute, Dr. Parimal Maya Sudhakar, Dr. Shivani Parimal, Shriranjan Awate, Bharat Kamble, Sanjay Mense, Jaydeep Karnik, Dhanashree, Dr. Dhananjay Pathak, Kalyani Jha, Ankita A.A, Raahi S.G.; Dr. Anant Phadke (Shramik Mukti Dal – Lokshahiwadi)