The High Level Enquiry Committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru University on Monday suspended student Umar Khalid from one semester and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him for organising pro-Afzal guru inside the campus.
New Delhi, April 24:(INDIAN EXPRESS) The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), on the basis of the recommendations of the High Level Enquiry Committee, on Monday rusticated Umar Khalid and two other students for varying durations and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in connection with the February 9 event on the campus against Afzal Guru’s hanging.
Umar was rusticated for one semester, Anirban Bhattacharya till July 15 and Mujeeb Gattoo for two semesters. Bhattacharya has also been barred from pursuing any course in JNU for the next five years. Khalid has also been slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000.
While Umar and Anirban were found guilty of triggering communal violence and disrupting communal harmony on campus, Mujeeb was found guilty of participating in the sloganeering.
Kanhaiya, Umar and Anirban were arrested on charges of sedition in February in connection with the controversial event and are out on bail. Their arrest had triggered widespread protests.
The campus has been made out of bounds for two former students — Banojyotsana Lahiri and Draupadi — while hostel facilities have been withdrawn for Ashutosh Kumar for a year and Komal Mohite till July 21.
The committee, constituted by the university to probe the February 9 event, found ABVP member Sourabh Sharma, who had objected to the event, “guilty” of blocking traffic on the day of the event and penalised him with Rs 20,000. Surprisingly, Aishwarya Adhikari, whose name was not mentioned in the report, has also been imposed the same penalty.
“Based on the report of the high-level committee which arrived at its conclusion based on depositions, perusal of video clips (provided by JNU Security and authenticated by forensic tests), and examination of documents on record, the university has decided to rusticate three students,” a senior university official said.
“While Anirban Bhattacharya has been rusticated till July 15, he will not be able to pursue any course or participate in any activity on campus for next five years, Umar Khalid has been rusticated for one semester and Mujeeb Gattoo for two semesters,” the official said. He said financial penalty has been imposed on 14 students including Kanhaiya.
Meanwhile, reacting to the disciplinary action, JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid said:
“We completely reject this farcical enquiry report, as it is based on sheer vendetta and a biased enquiry. These are all innocent students, coming from extremely humble and underprivileged backgrounds. They are all dedicated activists and this is a conspiracy to crush anti-Modi voices.
Not only will we not remain silent against this anti-people government, we will also challenge this sham of a report.
The punishments are all based on one-sided statements from ABVP members, and our repeated calls to conduct a fair enquiry were ignored.
The V-C is taking directions from the Central government. He should have acted first as an academician and then as an RSS loyalist. Rakesh Bhatnagar, the head of the committee, is the treasurer of anti-reservationist Youth for Equality, and most students who have been punished belong to Dalit, Muslim and backward castes.
Students across the country have assured support to us. People from all walks of life are supporting JNU students against this targeting. We will launch a countrywide campaign to expose this government’s anti-student, anti-Dalit character.”
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