JNU incident: Chargesheet has questions that have no answers
The incident of JNU student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and seven others allegedly shouting anti-national slogans in the precincts of JNU campus in 2016 has again come to light with Delhi police drawing up the chargesheet against them on Monday.
Kanhaiya Kumar was the president of student union when the incident happened. Delhi police have stated they have visual, oral and documentary evidence to prove their charges. This means Delhi police is saying the visual evidence of Kanhaiya Kumar leading the sloganeering students is with the police as of now.
The chargesheet states after the permission to observe the anniversary of parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru who was hanged eventually, was denied by the administration of the JNU, a text message was received by Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar to assemble at Sabarmati dhaba near the campus as per the charge sheet filed by Delhi police in the Patiala House Court a good three years after the incident.
But it is rather significant to note that the senior officers have said they do not possess direct documentary evidence to insinuate Kanhaiya Kumar shouting slogans, that can be termed as sedition . Though Zee news had aired the footage that showed someone shouting slogans, it was later said that this was not a genuine video. The channel now carries the reputation of having aired concocted footage to fix certain people.
Some parts of the video footages were obtained by those who were present at the venue. Officers have said some of the persons who were present when the incident occurred, had also testified to prove the charges against the accused. The court has noted the witnesses and their statements along with those of the police under relevant sections under CrPC.
Just as the Lok Sabha elections draw close, this filing of chargesheet against Kanhaiya Kumar and his friends has given rise to many doubts regarding the motive behind this act. How does a message from Khalid to Kanhaiya amount to sedition? Does the video footage possessed by the police show Kanhaiya Kumar shouting slogans against the country. Was he seen encouraging the students who were shouting anti national slogans? None of these questions can get clear answers from the Delhi police.
The chargesheet does not have clear details of calls made and received by Kanhaiya Kumar. The chargesheet does not explain where the phone was after and before the incident of shouting of anti national slogans or the subsequent clashes that broke out.
On the other hand, the police has not provided any incriminating evidence to prove Kanhaiya Kumar's role or crime in the whole incident. His name has not been recorded as the organiser of the event after the administration denied the permission to hold the event on the campus.
The police has decided to take action against Kanhaiya and his accomplices only after doctored videos by some channels were aired that showed him shouting slogans. But there has been no mention of doctored videos making rounds after the incident.
The case seems to be hanging on a lot of loose ends that may be difficult to be proven. Now despite knowing that this case may not hold water, if the police have still gone ahead and taken it to the court only to stop Kanhaiya and his friends from participating in the Lok Sabha elections, this must surely be a case of necessity of someone.
The name is pretty much know and is highly predictable by now. Narendra Modi has been rattled by the CBI and other investigating agencies.
Whatever be the case, this decision will turn to be favourable for Kanhaiya. With this, Modi has laid bare his fears and insecurities before the whole country.
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Speaker rules out discussion on Guv''s conduct amid K''taka Assembly standoff
Bengaluru (PTI): In an effort to end the logjam over the Governor's address that has stalled proceedings for the past week, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday ruled that legislators should not discuss Thaawarchand Gehlot or his conduct in the house, saying such debates send the wrong message to the public.
The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the session began on January 22 over the issue of the governor's conduct.
During his address to the joint sitting of the Karnataka legislature on January 22, Gehlot read out only three sentences from the 122-paragraph speech prepared by the state government.
The speech included criticism of the Centre for replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), portions of which the governor declined to read.
Concluding his address in about two minutes, the governor left the house, triggering a commotion as Congress legislators attempted to gherao him and raised slogans.
While the opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress and its ministers of "insulting" the governor and demanded action, the treasury benches countered by claiming the governor had "insulted the National Anthem by leaving before it was played."
The house again witnessed heated arguments on the issue earlier in the day, leading to adjournment.
During the interruption, Khader held a meeting with ministers and opposition members to resolve the impasse.
When proceedings resumed, the speaker delivered his ruling.
Referring to the events of January 22 and the subsequent debate, Khader said the conduct and discussions had conveyed the wrong message to the public.
"Our conduct as members of this House and the opinions expressed must be in good taste and in accordance with constitutional provisions. They must uphold the dignity of the House and its members. We must introspect in this direction," he said.
He stressed the need for caution to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
"Let us end this matter here, continue the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor, and refrain from discussing the governor or his conduct in this house," the speaker said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the house should express regret over what he termed an "insult" to the governor.
Responding, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the situation would not have arisen had the governor read out the entire address.
"Asking the house to express regret is not appropriate. Why did the governor leave even before the National Anthem was played," Siddaramaiah asked.
BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar reminded Siddaramaiah that as Leader of the Opposition in 2011, he had asked then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to curtail his address.
Bhardwaj had subsequently placed the address on the table of the house, requesting members to treat it as read.
Siddaramaiah said the situation in January 2011 was different from the present one.
The debate grew intense, leading to another adjournment of the house.
