JNU Rusticates Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya; Kanhaiya Kumar Fined Rs. 10,000
By Countercurrents.org
25 April, 2016
Countercurrents.org
The Hindu has reported that the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration rusticated Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhhatacharya in connection with an event organised in the campus to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru on February 9 where some anti-national slogans were allegedly shouted.
While Umar has been rusticated for one semester and a fine of Rs. 20,000 imposed on him Anirban has been declared out of bounds from the campus for five years after July 23, 2016. He has been rusticated till the period of July 15.
Both of them were arrested by Delhi police on sedition charges and spent about 15 days in Tihar jail under judicial custody.
JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was also charged with sedition and arrested in connection with the incident has, however, not been rusticated. The university authorities have imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on him.
Umar Khalid, rusticated for one semester + 20K fine.
Anirban Bhattacharya rusticated till 15 July & from 25 July, out of bounds for 5 years. Another Kashmiri student rusticated for two semesters.
Ashutosh Kumar, former JNUSU President, removed from hostel for one year + fine.
Chintu Kumari, former JNUSU Gen Sec: 20K fine
Rama Naga, current JNUSU Gen Sec: 20K fine
Anant Prakash Narayan, former JNUSU Vice-President: 20K fine
Aishwarya , current GSCASH representative: 20K fine.
Gargi, current JNUSU councillor: 20 K fine
Kanhaiyya, current JNUSU President: 10K fine
Other organisers fined from 10K to 20K
Two ex students declared out of bounds from campus.
Anirban Bhattacharya in a Facebook post said that HLEC decision is unacceptable ,
"Our Decision, simple: UNACCEPTABLE. Down with the fascist witch-hunt of student activists by the administration under the diktats of Nagpur! Reject as per the UGBM mandate the punishments handed down by the administration on the basis of the findings of the farcical HLEC! Right to Dissent Long Live!"
Umar Khalid in a Facebook post vowed to fight back the decision.
"The JNU administration declares its allegiance to RSS, once again! After allowing police to enter campus to unleash the worst repression on unprecedented in the history of JNU, now the JNU admin has come down with its own list of punishments. Its official now - the recommendations of the farcical High Level Enquiry Commitee have been released to the press in a press statement today by the JNU administration. Punishments include rustication, withdrawal of hostel facilities, fines and even out of bounds orders for some. Interestingly, the statement states punishment to be taken against two ex-students of JNU, who were never even summoned by the admin during the enquiry! A farce is what this enquiry has been from day one made to witch-hunt and punish students by hook or crook. Do we need to remind you, Mr Jagdish Kumar that unlike you the students and teachers of this campus are not pliant stooges of the RSS. Your friend Appa Rao did the same to our friend Rohith Vemula and his comrades. They fought back, they are our inspiration and so will we. The punishments on students are NOT acceptable to us. Get ready for a fight back!"
AISA - All India Students' Association said in a statement that it rejects the farcial enquiry report and will fight back.
The statement said,
"We completely reject this farcical enquiry report, as it is based on sheer vendetta and a biased enquiry. These are all innocent students, coming from extremely humble and underprivileged backgrounds. They are all dedicated activists and this is a conspiracy to crush anti-Modi voices.
Not only will we not remain silent against this anti-people government, we will also challenge this sham of a report.
The punishments are all based on one-sided statements from ABVP members, and our repeated calls to conduct a fair enquiry were ignored.
The VC is taking directions from the Central govt. He should have acted first as an academician and then as an RSS loyalist. Rakesh Bhatnagar, the head of the committee, is the treasurer of anti-reservationist Youth for Equality, and most students who have been punished belong to Dalit, Muslim and backward castes.
Students across the country have assured support to us. People from all walks of life are supporting JNU students against this targeting. We will launch a countrywide campaign to expose this government's anti-student, anti-Dalit character.
There will be no more Eklavyas. There will be no more Rohiths."