JNU row: Left leaders meet Kejriwal, demand magisterial probe

Leaders of Left parties and JD(U) today called on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal here seeking a magisterial probe to establish the "authenticity" of evidence produced against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charge in connection with an event organised on the campus against the hanging of Afzal Guru.
The delegation comprising CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI national secretary D Raja and JD(U) MP K C Tyagi termed the on-going developments at the JNU as a "political conspiracy" by Centre to terrorise the students, "reminding of days of Emergency".
"The evidence based on which this conspiracy has been hatched is wrong. There is need to have an independent probe to check authenticity of the evidences.

"Hence, we came here to meet Kejriwal seeking independent magisterial enquiry. He has assured us to look into the matter positively," Yechury told reporters after the meeting, which took place after the delegation first met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Yechury stated that an independent probe is required to ascertain if all the evidences needed have been furnished by the police before court and whether those are "authentic".
On being asked why the delegation called on Kejriwal after meeting Singh, Yechury said given the incident occured in the territory of Delhi, the AAP leader, being Chief Minister, has all the rights to conduct a probe and establish the authenticity of the evidence.

Tyagi defended Kanhaiya claiming the JNUSU president had not raised "anti-India" slogans and he has done "nothing wrong" by criticising RSS, BJP and HRD Minister Smriti Irani.

Kanhaiya, member of CPI's student wing AISF, was yesterday arrested in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy over holding an event at the prestigious institute against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, sparking widespread outrage among students and non-BJP political parties.
Kanhaiya's arrest come against the backdrop of a controversy at JNU, which erupted earlier this week, when some students had pasted posters across the campus inviting people to a protest march against what they claimed was "judicial killing of Guru and Maqbool Bhatt" and in solidarity with "struggle of Kashmiri people for their democratic right to self-determination" at the varsity's Sabarmati dhaba.

The event occurred despite varsity administration having cancelled the permission following a complaint by ABVP members.
The JNU administration had already ordered a "disciplinary" inquiry into the incident saying, the act of students going ahead with the event despite cancellation of permission amounted to indiscipline and any talk about country's disintegration cannot be "national".