A chargesheet was filed on Monday against former student union leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and seven Kashmiris for allegedly holding an “anti-national” event at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi on February 9, 2016.
The police said they have evidence to proceed against former JNU Students’ Union leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and seven students from Jammu and Kashmir – Aquib Hussain, Mujeer Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rassol, Bashir Bhat and Basharat. Mujeeb and Muneeb are own brothers. Muneer is a student of Aligarh Muslim University.
They have been accused of organising an event on the college campus against the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru. Their arrests then had triggered a huge controversy with the opposition slamming the police for “working at the behest of the ruling BJP”.
They have been charged with section-124 A, 323, 465, 471, 143, 149, 147, 120B. Shehla Rashid, Aprajita (D Raja’s daughter) any others have been put into column 12 that means they are accused however without evidence.
Reacting to the 1,200-page chargesheet, Kanhaiya Kumar said it is “politically motivated”. “When the magisterial inquiry was done, it was concluded that no JNU student was involved. I want to say, the police has filed a chargesheet after three years. We thank them,” NDTV quoted the former student leader as saying.
“We had asked Modiji 15 lacs, employment and good days. No matter country did not see good days, chargesheet at least has been filed against us. If this news is true many thanks to Modiji and his police,” he tweeted.
मोदी जी से हमने 15 लाख, रोज़गार और अच्छे दिन माँगे थे, देश के अच्छे दिन आए न आए कम से कम चुनाव से पहले हमारे ख़िलाफ़ चार्जशीट तो आई है। अगर यह ख़बर सही है तो मोदी जी और उनकी पुलिस को बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद।
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) January 14, 2019
Umar Khalid denied the allegations against him. “The government is trying to divert attention and change the narrative in an election year to hide their failure. We will fight the case and prove our innocence,” Mr Khalid told NDTV.
The police said there is no direct evidence against 36 other accused, including Communist Party of India leader D Raja’s daughter Aprajita, but they can be summoned for questioning. “Even at that time we said that these are politically motivated charges and nobody can accuse AISF (All India Students Federation) for any activity against nation. There’s nothing to prove, our students can’t indulge in such activities and the government can’t slap sedition charges on them. We’ll fight the case,” D Raja told news agency ANI.
Three policemen were seen carrying the 1,200-page chargesheet, kept inside a trunk, to Patiala House Court before the police finally submitted it to the court.
Quoting eyewitnesses, the police said Kanhaiya Kumar was seen raising anti-national slogans at the event three years ago, adding they have CCTV and mobile phone videos showing him speaking clearly.
