We completely reject the decision announced by JNU’s administration. It’s based on a farce of an inquiry and reeks of pre-determination. It’s the third time they’ve rusticated me. The Delhi High Court had sidelined this verdict in the past already.Umar Khalid, PhD scholar, JNU
A high-level inquiry committee of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) upheld the rustication of PhD scholar Umar Khalid, and slapped a Rs 10,000 fine on Kanhaiya Kumar, in connection with the incident on 9 February, 2016.
In a statement to The Quint, Khalid reiterated that the punishment given to him and other students was a targeted attack on students who participated in activism.
The JNU panel had recommended rustication of Umar Khalid and two other students and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Kanhaiya Kumar, the then students' union president, in connection with a campus event protesting Afzal Guru's hanging.
Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested in February 2016 on charges of sedition in connection with the controversial event and are out on bail.
‘Don’t Be Distracted by the Government’s Polarisation Effort Before 2019 Elections’
Silencing the voices of students who question them has become this government’s new norm. It has no answers for dalit atrocities, for farmer suicides, for MSP, and it punishes students who question it by imposing fines and suspensions.Umar Khalid, PhD scholar, JNU
The President of the JNU Students Union, Geeta Kumari, in a response to The Quint, called the rustication a targeted attack on students.
We strongly condemn the administration’s blatant miscarriage of justice to implicate students of false charges. Student activists have been continuously harassed by this administration which conducts inquiries after already drawing their conclusions to target students.JNU Students Union statement
Umar in his response to The Quint, added that the present government would attempt to “distract people further by raising fictitious narratives of polarisation” ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Before the 2019 elections the government will start many fictitious narratives. Fictitious polarisation narratives will be raked up. For this they’ll recreate the whole “national” “anti-national” narrative and we need to beware of this. We need to understand this gameplan and not let our focus get sidelined.Umar Khalid
Khalid also took to Facebook to address JNU’s decision to rusticate him, calling it a “targeted, systematic” and “malafide” attack.
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