Attack on Khalid cowardly, says JNU Students' Union

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) on Monday termed the attack on student leader Umar Khalid "cowardly" and a result of Narendra Modi government's "hate-filled propaganda" against the university students.

"It is with grave concern that we wish to stand in complete solidarity with Umar Khalid... We see this cowardly act as a culmination of the hate-filled propaganda that this Modi government ... has spewed against Umar, JNU students and all those voices who have questioned this regime," the Union said in a statement.

It also raised the issue of mob lynchings -- the instances of which have hogged the media reports in recent months -- as another phenomenon which has aggravated the law and order situation.

"From the JNUSU, we would like to make it clear that no voice can be curbed and the students movement will continue to produce fearless voices. We also demand that the Delhi Police take all appropriate actions against the conspirators behind the attack," it added.

An unidentified man on Monday afternoon reportedly opened fire at JNU scholar Umar Khalid outside the Constitution Club here, in which he escaped unhurt.

Khalid was at the club to attend a gathering organised by a civil society group called "United Against Hate".

He, along with two other JNU students, Kanhaiya Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya, was rusticated last month by the university for raising anti-national slogans during a poetry-reading gathering inside the campus on February 9, 2016.

--IANS

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