NEW DELHI: The Jawarharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday penalised Kanhaiya Kumar by imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 for violating disciplinary norms in connection with the 9 February event at the university. Supporters of Kanhaiya, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya have been rusticated from the university as well.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, a senior university official said, “A fine of Rs 10,000 has been imposed on Kanhaiya. Umar and Anirban have been rusticated for one semester each while Gattoo has been rusticated for two semesters.”
Based on high level enquiry committee (HLEC), the university administration has also taken strict action against 14 other students including Mujeeb Gattoo who were present during the event where slogans praising Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru were allegedly raised.
Umar Khalid has been rusticated from the university for one semester, by a panel which probed a controversial event on Kashmir held in the campus, officials told IANS. According to NewsX, a fine of Rs 20,000 has been imposed on Khalid.
The university also rusticated Mujeeb Gattoo, a Kashmiri student who was found shouting anti-national slogans on February 9, for 2 semesters.
Anirban Bhattacharya has been rusticated till 15 July. The panel has prohibited them from pursuing any course for the next 5 years.
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been made out of bounds for two former students — Banojyotsana Lahiri and Draupadi — while hostel facilities have been withdrawn for Ashutosh Kumar for a year and Komal Mohite till July 21.
A high-level committee constituted by the university to probe the February 9 event found ABVP member Saurabh 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 told PTI.
“While Anirban Bhattacharya has been rusticated till 15 July, 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.
Other students who were slapped with a fine of Rs 20,000 are Rama Naga, Ananth Kumar, Sweta Raj, Rubina and Chintu Kumari. Two other persons Banojyotsna Lahiri and Draupadi Gosh has been made out of bound from campus for five years, The Times of India reported.
On the evening of 9 February, 30 minutes before the scheduled start of a cultural event organised by the Democratic Students Union (an ultra-leftist group) to protest against the judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat, the university administration of Jawaharlal Nehru University cancelled the event.
Dozens of students gathered on the Sabarmati lawns including Kashmiri students to protest against the cancellation and raised slogans. Umar Khalid, who was one among them, has been penalised for alledged pro-Afzal sloganeering.
Khalid and Bhattacharya had allegedly raised “anti-India” slogans. The two Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students surrendered before police on Tuesday outside a gate of the university after a case against them was registered at Vasant Kunj police station.
Kanhaiya was arrested on 12 February, three days after the controversial event and around 10 days later, Umar and Anirban resurfaced on the University campus before surrendering to police.
The police had interrogated Kanhaiya, Khalid and Anirban together for a day after which they identified as many as 22 persons who allegedly participated in the JNU event. Both Kanhaiya and Umar had argued before a Delhi court that they never raised any anti-national slogans and claimed that video footages showing them raising these slogans were “false and doctored”.
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.
The report of the five-member panel had also pointed out lapses on part of administration and taken into account the role of outsiders into the event. However, no action has been taken against any administrative official.
“As per the committee findings, application for holding this event ‘circumvented’ the ‘permission process’ and ‘the organisers disobeyed the instructions from the administration’ not to hold it and that amounted to ‘willful defiance’,” the JNU official said.
He said disciplinary measures have been taken for not following university procedures, providing misinformation to the university, misconduct and indiscipline, causing and colluding in the unauthorised entry of any person into the campus, putting up objectionable posters, arousing communal, caste or regional feelings and creating disharmony, blockade or forceful prevention of any normal movement of traffic and violation of security, safety rules notified by the university.
Based on the preliminary report of the committee, the university had suspended eight students, however, their suspension was revoked when the panel had submitted it report on 11 March.
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