Police refrain from entering campus, wait for VC's nod * Kanhaiya's bail plea to be heard today
After eluding the Delhi police for over 10 days, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, accused of sedition, seemed to be divided on whether to surrender or continue to barricade themselves among their supporters.
The students, Omar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Anant, Ashutosh Kumar and Rama Naga, resurfaced on the campus on Sunday night, days after they were declared absconding by the Delhi police.
All of them are in favour of surrender but in front of a court and not before the police. Fear of public lynching is what is prompting them to do so.
"They want to surrender as they have a feeling that they should not take on the judiciary. However, surrendering to the police is a different ball game. They believe police didn't protect Kanhaiya. How will they save them if the same goons attack them?" said a student.
JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was attacked twice inside the Patiala Court complex, and scores of students and journalists were thrashed by lawyers, allegedly sympathetic to the BJP. Kanhaiya's bail plea is being heard by the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.
The students also said that they do not want a situation where the police feel powerless. "It is no doubt a confrontation but security concerns are greater," said a student.
The police, meanwhile, refused to speak to dna when asked how the students emerged from the campus when they were declared absconding.
After facing criticism over their alleged excessive action during a raid last week, the police hesitated to enter the campus and preferred to wait for the Vice Chancellor's (VC) nod.
A series of meetings were held by senior officers to decide whether the police should risk 'going in'.
A case of sedition was filed against the students after a video of them allegedly raising anti-India slogans on February 10 surfaced. There are also allegations that video was doctored.
"We are not terrorists. Is talking about the rights of the oppressed and the poor terrorism?" Khalid said. "I don't have a passport and they are saying I went to Pakistan. I want to be in India, so I could work for the people here and I will continue to do so. My sisters have been threatened with rape, my family with death threats but all of this will not deter me," he said.
Ashutosh and Rama said that they went into hiding because of the atmosphere that was being created. They said that they came out because they feared for the safety of their parents and friends.
Later in the day, the JNU teachers association made four demands - sedition charges against students be dropped, no arbitrary arrests, reconstitution of the internal committee probing the incident and creation of a conducive atmosphere to appear before the committee.
The demands irked ABVP leaders, who accused the JNU faculty of shielding the absconding students.
The faculty later met VC Jagdish Kumar, who, according to sources, initially granted them only a few minutes. Later, it lasted for 40 minutes. "The VC kept on smiling and did not give concrete answers. We asked for the sacking of the registrar and inquired about the fate of the students. He said he will look into it," said a faculty member.
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