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Fights take place near Indian court over student sedition case Indian student leader accused of sedition 'beaten up by lawyers'
(about 3 hours later)
Fighting has broken out around an Indian court where a case against a student union leader accused of sedition is taking place, a charge that has sparked protests across university campuses and criticism the government is curtailing free speech. The Indian student union leader at the centre of a case that has triggered protests across universities and accusations that the government is trying to muzzle free speech says he has been beaten up outside court by lawyers.
Kanhaiya Kumar, head of the student union at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, was rushed from a car through a gate into the court by police officers protecting him with a riot shield. He was later remanded in custody by the court until 2 March.
Related: Protests to continue at Indian university after student leader's arrestRelated: Protests to continue at Indian university after student leader's arrest
Lawyers chanting nationalist slogans earlier barged into the compound and threw stones at reporters outside, in defiance of an earlier supreme court order banning protests after there was fighting at a hearing on Monday. In a repeat of chaotic scenes from Monday, Kanhaiya Kumar, head of the student union at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, claimed he was hit by lawyers chanting nationalist slogans. Kumar, who is accused of sedition, told the court he was manhandled on the way in and lost his shoes in the process. “I was rebuked, I was attacked,” he said.
Wednesday’s remand hearing was temporarily adjourned as the supreme court rushed a team of commissioners to investigate reports that Kumar had been beaten up inside the Patiala courthouse in New Delhi. Defence lawyer Vrinda Grover told Reuters: “A person has come dressed as a lawyer and beaten him up inside the court premises today. The police couldn’t do anything, it’s a complete violation of the supreme court order.”
“A person has come dressed as a lawyer and beaten him up inside the court premises today,” said defence lawyer Vrinda Grover. “The police couldn’t do anything, it’s a complete violation of the supreme court order.” About a dozen lawyers threw rocks at reporters and protesters. One grabbed the camera strap of an Associated Press photographer, bruising his hand and breaking his lens.
Kumar, 28, was arrested at a student rally last week held to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of a Kashmiri separatist over his role in an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. His supporters denied he made any incendiary remarks. The lawyers – many of whom had been involved in similar violence on Monday when reporters and Kumar’s supporters were beaten outside the court premises – waved Indian flags and chanted: “glory to Mother India” and “traitors leave India”.
Kumar told the court he was manhandled on the way in and lost his shoes in the process. “I was rebuked, I was attacked,” he said. The remand hearing was briefly adjourned as the supreme court rushed a team of commissioners to investigate the events at the Patiala House court in Delhi.
The case has triggered the biggest nationwide protests by students in a quarter of a century and a firm response from supporters of the nationalist government, who say the actions against Kumar are justified. The court banned protests after Monday’s violence. Kumar, 28, was arrested at a student rally last week held to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of a Kashmiri separatist over his role in an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. His supporters deny he made any incendiary remarks.
In a climate of growing polarisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party is cranking up Hindu-nationalist rhetoric ahead of an election in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, next year. The reaction of authorities to the protests at JNU – which is well known for its politically active student body and strongly disliked by the Hindu right – comes against a background of what critics say is rising intolerance in India since Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata party swept to power in 2014.
The government has repeatedly been accused of seeking to repress free speech and encouraging extremist nationalists who systematically intimidate critics. Some independent commentators and legal experts have criticised the Modi government for exploiting the colonial-era sedition law to silence its opponents.
Soli Sorabjee, a former attorney general, deplored Kumar’s arrest. He told Reuters: “Any critical comment against government policy does not amount to sedition. Only acts that can disturb law and order or incite violence can be stamped as sedition.”
Modi’s party rejected the criticism. “The constitution is clear that freedom of speech does not extend to the right to promote secession; slogans that demand the disintegration of India cannot be condoned,” said MJ Akbar, a BJP spokesman.