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We feared being lynched, claim students

Last Updated 23 February 2016, 02:07 IST
The five absconding JNU students who have resurfaced on the campus claimed on Monday that they did now show up earlier as they feared being lynched by a mob.

The students are wanted by police in conncetion with the controversial February 9 incident in which ‘anti-India slogans’ were allegedly raised.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) general secretary Rama Naga said he stayed in different parts of Delhi before deciding to show up on the campus on Monday.

He said he had been framed in the case. When asked about his decision to go in hiding, former JNUSU president Ashutosh Kumar told reporters, “I live in people’s heart. If we had to be on the run, I would have headed out to a jungle.” He alleged that police raided girl’s hostel on February 12, when the incumbent student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition.

Alleged organisers of the event – Ashutosh, Rama Naga, Umar Khalid,  Anant Prakash Narayan and Anirban Bhattacharya – said they will not resist arrest, but will not themselves surrender.

A look-out notice was issued for at least three of the five accused who showed up on campus. ABVP alleged that the Left-leaning JNU teachers gave shelter to the accused students.

On the morning after they made a public appearance at the administrative block, private security guards formed a human chain to shield them from the media glare.

A lecture on nationalism was conducted later on Monday evening, which was attended by hundreds of students. The campus is debating the pre-colonial sedition law, under which JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 12, as part of a week-long lecture series addressed by eminent scholars. 

JNUSU joint secretary Saurabh Kumar Sharma, an ABVP member, said, “We are very certain that these students are hiding in residences of professors on campus. We demand an enquiry into the same and the teachers supporting these students should also be penalised by the university.”

The accused students who surfaced on the campus on late Sunday evening claimed they were framed using a doctored video.

“Last night they suddenly emerged on campus and proudly addressed rallies. A huge gathering of students and teachers even lauded them,” Sharma said.

“We demand that the vice chancellor intervenes in this regard and direct the five students to surrender before police. We want JNU administration, varsity security and police to devise a strategy on how that could be facilitated without disrupting the peace on campus,” he added.
The ABVP also alleged that some faculty members have links to Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

“We have received information that around 10 JNU teachers have links with the ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai. These faculty members are also pressurising students to support Umar Khalid and others misusing their position. A inquiry should be done against such faculty members,” said Alok Singh, president ABVP JNU unit.
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(Published 23 February 2016, 02:06 IST)

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