The Delhi high court on Tuesday said it will hear on May 26 a plea by JNU student Sharjeel Imam, who has been arrested in a case related to alleged inflammatory speeches made by him during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in 2019, seeking interim bail.
Facing criticism from social media and political quarters for holding a 'Free Kashmir' poster during the 'Occupy Gateway' protest against violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mehak Prabhu, a Mumbai-based storyteller, on Tuesday clarified that she meant to highlight the restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir and wished to see peace in the region and added that there was no other motive behind her actions.
Hundreds of students and teachers of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia on Tuesday hit the streets with a call to "save" the varsities from the "onslaught" of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and "curbing" of dissent.
The website of Jawaharlal Nehru's Central library was on Tuesday hacked with a message displaying 'You are thinking that you will get Kashmir just by barking in the campus of JNU'.
The court also listed for hearing on November 18 bail pleas by other co-accused in the matter, including Khalid Saifi and Meeran Haider.
Taking a dig at Narendra Modi for his poll campaign in north eastern states, the Shiv Sena on Monday said the prime minister should have taken out time to visit drought-hit Marathwada as well.
Yashpal Singh, one of the three lawyers caught on camera thrashing journalists and Jawaharlal Nehru University teachers and students at Patiala House court complex last week, was arrested on Tuesday night amid mounting outrage over alleged police inaction against those involved in the assault.
Amid mounting outrage over the Jawaharlal Nehru University row, it has emerged now that student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was slapped with sedition charge based on a video clip of the controversial event at the university aired by a Hindi news channel.
An Allahabad court has admitted a petition seeking trial of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on charges of sedition for his opposition to the police action against students of the Jawaharlal Nehru who had taken part in a demonstration where "anti-national" slogans were allegedly raised.
While Khalid was rusticated for one semester and slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000, Bhattacharya was rusticated till July 15 and after July 23 he was barred from the university campus for five years.
We have demanded that Kanhaiya be released and the home minister has assured us that no action will be taken against any innocent student," the CPI-M leader added.
Five teams of the Crime Branch have been deployed to locate Imam, a resident of Bihar, they said.
Agitated over the alleged assault on student protesters by police, students from various universities across Delhi on Tuesday staged a protest outside police headquarters in New Delhi blocking the traffic at ITO intersection.
The Delhi government has given a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others in connection with a four-year-old sedition case, as the ruling AAP denied the persistent BJP charge of blocking the proceedings in the matter.
With the proposed 'beef and pork' food festival sparking protests from right-wing groups, Jawaharlal Nehru University authorities on Monday stepped in to prevent any further flaring of tempers, warning students against organising such an event. A circular that appeared in the campus on Monday warned students against the possession, consumption or cooking of beef on campus, pointing to the law that prohibits cow slaughter.
Speaking to the media a day after he was released from Tihar Jail after he was charged for sedition, Kanhaiya thanked everyone who supported him and alleged that a conspiracy was afoot to malign the JNU campus and its students.
Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Sitaram Yechury are among nine persons who have been booked on sedition charges in connection with the JNU row, police said on Sunday.
The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday asked the Union, state governments and Jawaharlal Nehru University not to allow pork and beef during a festival at the varsity later in September. "If beef is served by a group of students in the premises of JNU on September 28, then the consequences would be serious," Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta said in a statement.
Apprehending the possibility of "clashes" following the release of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, Delhi Police has issued an 'advisory' to all districts, traffic and PCR units asking them to maintain strict vigil, especially in and around JNU and Delhi University campuses.
'The only forum for resistance and dissent has become the university.' 'Free thinking is the right our brave students have been demanding.' 'As another round of violence and hatred against 'anti-nationals' begins, all of us, whether or not we agree with their views, should support and defend them,' says Aakar Patel.
'The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India'
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday kicked up a storm with his remarks "was there a murder" on being asked why police had not acted against lawyers and others thrashing journalists, students and teachers at the premises of the court hearing the JNU case.
'In order to restore things to even keel, the government would be very well advised to cut its current political losses and work towards healing wounds across the nation. It still has its work cut out. It will have to work very hard to repair the political damage among Dalit and tribal communities,' says David Devadas.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau report, a total of 356 cases of sedition -- as defined under section 124A of the IPC -- were registered and 548 people arrested between 2015 and 2020, out of which only six were convicted.
'From the look of those photographs and videos, it cannot be made available to anyone,' the judge said.
Barring 2004 and 2009 when Navjot Singh Sidhu won the Amritsar seat as a BJP MP and 1998 when Daya Singh Sodhi from BJP was elected as the MP, it has essentially a Congress bastion.
In the FIR, the police has claimed that the communal violence was a "premeditated conspiracy" which was allegedly hatched by Khalid and two others.
A day after of 'Kiss of Love' debuted in Delhi, a similar such event was held on Sunday at Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.
Union Minister V K Singh on Saturday targeted JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar for calling Rohith Vemula his inspiration, alleging that the Dalit scholar had organised a meeting in support of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday alleged the government flared up the issue of JNU to divert people's attention from the Rohit Vemula's suicide issue and subsequent developments.
During the hearing, Umar Khalid's lawyer told the court that his client was willing to surrender at a time and location, but the Delhi Police objected to the place.
The court also sought an undertaking from Kanhaiya that he will allow the university to function properly and there will be no agitation.
The high court directed Pinjra Tod activists Narwal and Kalita and Tanha to surrender their passports and not to offer any inducement to prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in the case.
The protesters including girls and schoolchildren, belonging to the schools within the campus, began their march from the Purani Chungi and culminated it at the Babey Sir Syed gate of the university. They also raised slogans in support of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh protesters and the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
It is the first time that the JMI has been placed among the top 10 universities in the (HRD) Ministry's National Institutional Ranking Framework rankings.
In a stinging letter, the three wrote, 'We cannot be mouthpiece of such a government which has unleashed oppression on student community'.
Afzal Guru's lawyer Nandita Haksar on Thursday said that the law of sedition is "loosely" defined in the Indian constitution and its interpretation depends on who is in power.
Students of the Kashmir University raised slogans supporting Kanhaiya Kumar during a signature campaign held to back the Jawaharlal Nehru University students.
Four video clippings related to the controversial February 9 event at the Jawaharlal Nehru University which were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar for examination have emerged as "genuine".
Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, on Friday, supported the Union Government's move to hoist national flag on the campuses of all 46 Central Universities in order to instill nationalism and pride in students.