New Delhi/Nagpur: Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNU student charged with sedition, today denied that he had received any expulsion warning from the university. He led an “azaadi” protest march with five demands that include the exit of Education Minister Smriti Irani.
- “I did receive a show-cause notice but there was nothing about rustication in it,” Kanhaiya Kumar said.
- He was speaking to reporters shortly before he led a “march for democracy” in the heart of Delhi.
- “We want the resignation of Smriti Irani, dropping of sedition charges, the release of two students from jail, no interferences in the university’s autonomy and a law against caste politics in colleges,” Kanhaiya Kumar said.
- A report had said last evening that an inquiry committee of the JNU or Jawaharlal Nehru University had recommended the expulsion of five students including Kanhaiya Kumar for their alleged role in a February 9 event in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, where anti-India slogans were raised.
- Based on the inquiry committee’s report, notices have been sent to 21 students including Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.
- In the showcause notice, the university has accused students of “violating the university’s rules and norms” and asked them to give their explanation by tomorrow.
- Teachers and students have said that the inquiry report must be made public.
- “The notice is very vague. It doesn’t say what we have done. It asks us to clarify, but what should we clarify?” questioned one of the students, Anand Prakash.
- Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested last month on charges of sedition.
- Kanhaiya Kumar was released on bail from Tihar Jail on March 3 while Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya are still in judicial custody.