A row over the arrest of an Indian student on a controversial sedition charge escalated yesterday, with students refusing to attend classes and violent scenes at the Delhi court where he was due to appear, reports AFP from New Delhi. Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on Friday for alleged seditious behaviour at a rally to mark the third anniversary of a Kashmiri separatist’s execution, sparking major protests at Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and other universities.
He was brought before a judge on Monday, but violent scuffles broke out in the courtroom where fellow students and journalists had gathered to witness his appearance. An AFP reporter at the court said men wearing lawyers’ robes snatched reporters’ phones and notebooks and pushed them to the ground, accusing them of being “pro-Pakistan” and “anti-Indian”. Several journalists said they had been threatened and ordered to leave the court. Television footage showed unidentified men punching and shoving people outside the court building.