JNU again holds Kashmir event on Guru death anniversary

Dozens of JNU students on Thursday held a demonstration in solidarity with those killed, maimed or blinded in the Kashmir Valley during the 2016 unrest, a year after a similar event triggered a row on the university campus that also led to the arrest of student leaders, including Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid.

Remembering the victims of Kashmir violence post the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, the Jawaharlal Nehru University students raised pro-freedom slogans and put blood stained bandages on their eyes -- depicting the pellet victims in the valley.

"In solidarity with The Country Without A Post Office," wrote Umar Khalid, who was arrested last year in February on charges of sedition and later released on bail.

The students gathered outside the Administrative Block of the university and demanded "peace and freedom" for Kashimir. The day also marked the fourth death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru who was hanged in 2013.

The RSS's students front Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) denounced the demonstration, calling it a revival of "anarchy" on the campus and demanded top JNU officials' resignations for failing to stop pro-Kashmr protest.

"It's a shame on the part of the administration that it was unable to stop them. Thus, those in administration should resign," the ABVP said in a statement.

It also called on the Delhi Police and the Delhi High Court to "take note of the impunity with which such separatist sentiments have been flared in JNU year after year".

On the same date last year, similar slogans were raised on the JNU campus during a cultural event at Sabarmati Dhaba. A number of students were arrested as result of the ensuing controversy.

Students including Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Ashustosh, and former JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar were arrested and subsequently released on bail. The matter is pending in courts.

-- IANS

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