JOIN USThe Delhi Police said on Monday that it seized an ‘anti-national’ pamphlet which was distributed by Democratic Students’ Union (DSU) ahead of the controversial February 9 event on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.
It says, ‘Afzal tumhare armaano ko, hum manzil tak pahunchayenge’ (Afzal, we will fulfil your aspirations).
According to police, the DSU activists at the event were led by Umar Khalid, a PhD student. It is alleged that Khalid conceived the idea of a cultural evening to mark the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
“Three years ago, on this day, the Indian State murdered a man. He was murdered not by a democratic state, but rather a retributive spiteful State,” states the pamphlet which the police would be hoping to use it as evidence against Khalid.
“The ruling classes wanted to kill the movement for Azaadi by killing Afzal. They did not realise that his murder would only strength the resolve for every young Kashmiri to fight for their liberation,” the pamphlet adds.
According to police, 80 to 100 DSU students under Khalid’s leadership gathered near Sabarmati dhaba in JNU on February 9. They soon started to shout slogans and sang songs praising Afzal and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front co-founder Maqbool Bhat.
A sedition case was filed over the event on February 11 and JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 12.
Khalid has been absconding since Kumar’s arrest. He along with four other students surfaced at the university complex late on Sunday and addressed fellow students outside the administration block.
The police, who have issued look-out circulars for the students, arrived outside at the campus, but said they were awaiting permission from JNU vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar to enter it.
Meanwhile, a Zee News producer Vishwa Deepak has resigned and alleged that the channel’s footage did not show JNU students shouting anti-India slogans. The FIR over the event has been filed on the basis of footage provided by the Hindi news channel.
The police have also questioned some journalists who contacted Khalid and other JNU students days before or after the February 9 event.