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Google-maps search for ‘anti-national’,’patriotism’ leads to JNU

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JNU-Anti-National-Google-Maps

New Delhi: Searching with key words such as ‘anti-national’, ‘sedition’, ‘patriotism’ and ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ on Google-maps will now direct the users to JNU, which is caught in a row over its students being booked under sedition.

The students of the university, who have been agitating against the alleged “branding” of JNU as “anti-national” after three of its students were arrested in connection with an event, have taken strong objection to the “technical certification”.

Google authorities, when contacted, said they are trying to resolve the issue.

“We will raise the issue with the administration to send an official communication to Google in this regard. We have been protesting against the branding of an institution as anti-national and now the search giant has gone a step ahead in certifying that,” JNU Students Union Vice President Shehla Rashid Shora said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University has been in news since last month over an event on campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

Three students – Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, were arrested in a sedition case, kicking a national versus anti-national debate across the country. They are now out on bail.

“When I noticed this on google-maps, I laughed at it. But when I thought of it it seemed dangerous. Dangerous not because it represents my university but for fact that anyone or institution can be termed so through the power of government and MNC’s. Will GoogleMaps be answerable for this?,” another student N Sai Balaji said.

A Google spokesperson said, “we are aware of the issue and are working on a fix”.

A JNU faculty member, who did not wish to be named said, “though we have strong objections to JNU being referred to as anti-national but since google-maps is throwing same results for patriotism and Bharat mata ki jai as well, it could be a technical glitch too”.

However, this isn’t the first time that the map services of the tech-giant has landed in a situation like this.

Last year, the users were directed to White House when they searched for keyword “nigger house” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name was reflected in search of top 10 criminals. In both the cases, Google had apologised to them for the technical errors.

(Agencies)

It’s a direct fight against dictatorship: Kanhaiya Kumar

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Kanhaiya-Kumar

New Delhi: In fresh attack on the NDA government, JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday vowed to wage a “direct fight” against “dictatorship” as he accused it of targeting universities across the country and sought support of all democratic forces saying it was about saving the country.

He said those talking about Constitution should allow law to take its own course in the sedition case in which he as well as JNU PhD scholars Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested, noting delivering justice on street was not acceptable.

“You may not agree with my politics. It is not about JNU only. The universities are being attacked across the country. Now our fight is direct against dictatorship. All democratic people will have to come together. This unity is required in the country,” he said at the India Today conclave here.

Kanhaiya said while the question confronting the people today was about saving the country, the whole JNU episode was given a national versus anti-national spin. “The whole episode has been portrayed as a case of national versus anti-national. The job of a patriot is not to use a black law like sedition against people of the country, against youngsters and students.

“You are behaving with them in a way as if you have become the British and we are the soldiers of Bhagat Singh. If you don’t hesitate to use a black law like sedition, then we don’t have any problem in becoming the sepoys of Bhagat Singh,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, JNUSU Vice President Shela Rashid said the very idea of India which stands for accommodation and acceptance is under threat. “Since politics decides our future, we will decide our own politics. Universities are democratic places. We need to protect them from RSS,” she said.

During her short but passionate address, Shela, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, said she grew up watching a very violent image of India but JNU gave her the democratic space. She said the ABVP raises very violent slogans as well which are specially directed at women but students largely do not complain against them respecting the spirit of free speech.

“We do not want to see you behind the bars,” she said looking at ABVP’s JNU leader Saurabh Sharma who was also part of the discussion. She said since the NDA government came to power, the ABVP has been misusing the political power to frame students.

Earlier, Kanhaiya said the sedition law must be scrapped. Welcoming bail granted to Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, he said all parties and people supporting democracy must come forward to demand abolishing the British-era law.

(PTI)

Umar Khalid, Anirban get six month interim bail

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Umar Khalid

New Delhi: A court here on Friday granted six months interim bail to JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, arrested on charges of sedition.

Both have been asked to furnish a bail bond of Rs.25,000 each.

Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh also asked the two Jawaharlal Nehru University students not to leave Delhi without the court’s permission.

Both had sought bail on the ground of “parity”, saying that JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was also arrested on the same charge, was already granted interim bail by the Delhi High Court.

Granting six-month interim bail to them on parity with Kanhaiya Kumar, the court noted that there was no previous criminal record against them and “nothing has been brought on record which could indicate that they are likely to abscond from jurisdiction of the court”.

“No submission has been made (by police) to the effect that both the applicants Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya have been involved previously in any criminal case. No record has been placed by the state regarding any such past conduct of both these persons.

“Although the allegations levelled against Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya are per se serious in nature, but as claimed by police themselves, the video footage of the incident has been sent to the forensic science laboratory. Its analysis and final report will certainly take some time,” it added.

Delhi Police had opposed the bail plea saying their case was different from that of Kanhaiya Kumar as they were the organisers of a controversial event on the varsity campus on February 9 where anti-national slogans were raised and he was not.

Both the students surrendered before police last month. A case was registered against Khalid and Bhattacharya at the Vasant Kunj police station in south Delhi, soon after Kanhaiya was arrested on the same charge on February 12.

(Agencies)

Provocative slogans were shouted by outsiders: JNU probe panel

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New Delhi: Provocative slogans at the controversial February 9 event on JNU campus were raised by a group of outsiders, a high-level inquiry committee of the varsity has said, noting it was “unfortunate” that the students allowed that to happen.

It said holding of the event despite cancellation of permission was an act which amounts to “willful defiance”.

The panel has also pointed out lapses on part of the university’s security unit, saying it did not make any efforts to stop outsiders from shouting provocative slogans and stop them from leaving the campus.

“The organisers disobeyed the instructions from the administration about not holding the event. This amounts to willful defiance. It is most unfortunate that the organisers allowed the event to be taken over by a group of outsiders who created a charged atmosphere by raising provocative slogans.

“This act by outsiders has brought disrepute to the entire JNU community,” the report of the five-member panel said.

“The committee also notes that none of the JNUSU office-bearers acted with due responsibility. The office-bearers had to behave with even more restraint and caution befitting the position they hold.

“They need to rise above the politics and other differences as they represent the student community. It is unbecoming of student representatives that they should be found engaging in disorderly conduct or condoning it,” it added.

The report has two sections — findings and recommendations.

The section of findings has been shared by the university with 21 students who have been issued a show-cause notice in this connection, the recommendations have been kept out of public domain.

Highly-placed sources in the university had said that the panel, which submitted its report on March 11, has recommended rustication of five students including JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya who are facing sedition charge.

While the panel has identified a few students guilty of procuring permission from the university on false pretext, it has also noted that the Dean of Students (DoS) should have withdrawn the permission in writing and not by sending text message to the Chief Security Officer.

“It has to be noted that since the event had taken place in 2015 as well, the Dean’s office was not vigilant enough to anticipate and prevent this event. Security did not make any efforts to stop outsiders from shouting provocative slogans and prevent them from leaving the campus,” the report said.

The report also said that the group of outsiders had their heads and faces covered.

A meeting of the university’s top brass, chaired by the Vice Chancellor, today discussed the report following which the varsity issued show-cause notice to 21 students including Kanhaiya and Umar, who were found guilty of having violated university rules and discipline norms.

The committee was formed on February 10 to probe the event organised to protest hanging of Afzal Guru, the Parliament attack convict.

Kanhaiya, Umar and Anirban were arrested on charges of sedition in connection with the programme.

Kanhaiya was released on bail from Tihar on March 3 while Umar and Anirban are still in judicial custody.

The university had on March 11 revoked the academic suspension of eight students including Kanhaiya after completion of the probe by the five-member panel. It was decided to keep them under suspension from academic activities till the inquiry was over. However, they were allowed to stay in the hostels.

The panel, which was granted three extensions before it finally submitted its report, also faced difficulties in the probe as students refused to depose before it demanding that the inquiry be constituted afresh.

The varsity, however, turned down the demand and maintained that the students will be given three chances to appear before the disciplinary committee and, if they fail to do so, the panel will finalise its recommendations on the basis of evidence available.

The university authorities maintained that a final decision regarding the “quantum of punishment” will be taken on basis of the reply sent by students to show-cause notices by tomorrow evening.

(PTI)

Outsider tries to assault student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on JNU campus

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Kanhaiya Kumar attack

New Delhi: A man tried to attack Kanhaiya Kumar inside the JNU campus, as per media reports on Thursday.

His name is Vikas Chaudhary and he tried to slap the JNUSU president. The man was later detained by security officials.

As per initial reports, he is an outsider and native of Ghaziabad. Some reports said that JNU students rescued the JNUSU president.

Also Kanhaiya is said to be out of danger.

Later, talking to the press, Vikas said that he was upset with Kumar over his remarks regarding the Army.

“He wants to be a leader. I wanted to teach him a lesson,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme court today asked the parties to two petitions, pertaining to incidents of violence in the Patiala House court complex during the hearing related to Kanhaiya, to complete pleadings by March 29.

In one such petition, filed by advocate Kamini Jaiswal, an SIT probe had been sought into the incidents on February 15 and 17 in which three lawyers were allegedly caught on camera “bragging and boasting” they had beaten up the student leader and others.

The court had, on February 26, sought response from the Centre and Delhi Police on Jaiswal’s plea which has also sought initiation of contempt action against the lawyers for allegedly beating Kanhaiya and others in the district courts complex.

The plea has sought “suo motu contempt proceeding” against lawyers Vikram Singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma on the ground that they have allegedly been caught on camera talking about the attacks, claiming that the three interfered in the “administration of justice” and willfully violated the orders passed by the apex court on February 17.

In the earlier petition, an alumnus of JNU who was hurt in the violence on February 15, N D Jaiprakash, had complained of inaction of police against those were allegedly involved in thrashing journalists, students and teachers in a city court and sought a fair trial “free from fear of violence and prejudice”.

It had alleged that police were a “mute spectator to this brazen display of violence and brute force being perpetrated on innocent persons” who had gathered in the Court premises.

(Agencies)

Unlikely to campaign for WB, Kerala polls, says Kanhaiya Kumar

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Kanhaiya Kumar

New Delhi: JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who walked out of Tihar on bail last week where he was lodged in a sedition case, on Wednesday indicated that he is unlikely to campaign in the upcoming West Bengal and Kerala Assembly polls.

“I have already said that mainstream politics is not my calling. I am a student and want to be a teacher after I finish my PhD. However, I will continue with activism even then.

“Two of my friends are still in jail, we have raised whole lot of issues ranging from Rohith Vemula case and now the Allahabad University row. There is so much to do for the students that it is unlikely for me to take that much time to travel for campaigning,” he told PTI.

After an electrifying speech of Kanahaiya at JNU, the CPM General secretary Sitaram Yechury had declared that Kanhaiya would be campaigning for Left parties in the Assembly polls.

However, he later stated that Kanhaiya will not travel to Kerala and Bengal to campaign citing the bail and other issues involved in making him poll campaigner.

The 29-year-old research scholar also hit back at Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu who had said he was enjoying free publicity after his release from jail.

“Naidu said that I and other JNU students are enjoying the publicity and should rather go study. I want to tell him what we are doing is activism but what his government is doing is politics. Does he know the difference between the two? He should know this before making such comments,” he said.

Post his fiery speech at the campus after he returned from Tihar after 18 days, Naidu had advised the student leader to focus on academics instead.

“Kanhaiya is getting free publicity and is enjoying it. Why are they getting into politics? If they are interested in politics, they can leave studies and join politics. Simple. Join your favourite party,” the BJP leader had said.

The Begusarai boy further said, “the entire country knows how difficult it is to get admission in JNU. Do they think we survive here without studying? Our motto is ‘study and struggle’, only the ones who are scared of the intellectual products of JNU call it politics”.

Kanhaiya also asserted that Naidu’s statement was “ironical” as he himself had started his career in politics as an ABVP student leader in 1973 after being elected as the students union president of Andhra University Colleges.

Kanhaiya was arrested on February 12 in a sedition case over an event on campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

While he was granted an interim bail for six months by Delhi High Court last week, two more students-Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya are still in custody in connection with the event.

Kanhaiya is now leading an agitation against the alleged branding of university as “anti-national”, release of his two friends, revoking of sedition charge and academic suspension of eight students including him.

(Agencies)

JNU row: Delhi govt serves legal notice to TV channels for airing doctored videos

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Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal informed CPI(M) and JD(U) leaders that legal notices have been served to media houses which allegedly aired doctored videos of JNU students raising anti-national slogans on the night of February 9.

The delegation of CPI(M)-JD(U) leaders Monday called on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and asked him to take action against organisations which had allegedly used doctored videos “to create frenzy of anti-nationals” at JNU.

A forensic probe ordered by Delhi government on certain footages of the February 9 JNU event, in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised, found that two of the videos were “manipulated” where voices of persons not present in the clips were added.

The delegation thanked Kejriwal for the probe and sought action against the organisations concerned based on the findings of enquiry into the clips, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

“We went to thank him for organising magisterial enquiry which has clearly shown the tapes were doctored. Secondly, on the basis of his (Kejriwal’s) own enquiry that the tapes were doctored, they should now proceed for action against the organisations that used these doctored tapes to create this sort of a frenzy of anti-national against JNU as a whole and against the students,” Yechury said after the meeting.

He said Kejriwal assured the delegation of action into the matter.

“He (Kejriwal) said notices have already been served to some media houses which have done this mischief,” Yechury said.

Besides Yechury, JD(U) MP K C Tyagi was part of the delegation that met Kejriwal.

(Agencies)

No direct link of Kanhaiya with anti-India slogans: DM’s report

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Kanhaiya-Kumar

New Delhi: “No direct link” has been found between Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and anti-India sloganeering at the campus on February 9, said a Delhi government report.

“I have submitted the report to the Delhi government late last (Wednesday) night,” District Magistrate, New Delhi, Sanjay Kumar, who conducted the inquiry, told IANS.

The report also stated that the role of Umar Khalid, another JNU student accused of raising anti-India slogans, needs to be further investigated.

“Umar Khalid was visible in many videos. His support for the role of Kashmir and Afzal Guru is known and he was the organiser of the event. His role needs to be further investigated,” the report states.

Sanjay Kumar refused to divulge the details but an official privy to the report, who did not want to be named, said: “The DM report says they could not find any link between what Kanhaiya Kumar said and the anti-India slogans raised at the gathering.

“No witness or video available to me could support allegation against him,” Sanjay Kumar stated in the report.

But the official said that “anti-India slogans were indeed raised in the campus. There is no doubt about it”.

“Anti-national slogans were indeed raised on the campus of the JNU. The university administration has identified few faces who were clearly heard raising anti-India slogans. Whereabouts of them should be found out and their role must be investigated further,” the report stated.

The official said that seven videos were sent to Truth Labs, Hyderabad, of which three were found to be doctored. “In those doctored versions, video has been edited and voices added,” the official said.

The state government had ordered a magisterial probe into the matter on February 13.

On February 9, a cultural event was organised at JNU to commemorate the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

During the event, anti-India slogans were allegedly raised, following which JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested by Delhi Police on February 12.

Kanhaiya Kumar was granted interim bail for six months by Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

(IANS)

Two JNU videos ‘manipulated’: forensic report

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New Delhi: A Delhi government-ordered forensic probe of a set of video clippings of the controversial JNU event has found that two videos were “manipulated” where voices of persons not present in the clips were added.

Out of seven videos sent by the Delhi government to the Hyderabad-based Truth Labs, two have been found to be tampered with while the rest were authentic, sources said.

“In the manipulated clips, videos have been edited and voices have been added. The main report with a supplementary have been submitted to the Delhi government,” they said.

When asked whether the voices that were added were of persons not seen in the manipulated clips, they said “naturally”.

The Arvind Kejriwal led-government had on February 13 ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged raising of anti-national slogans on the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s campus on February 9.

Earlier, a video showing raising of anti-India slogans allegedly by outsiders at the event had given a fresh twist to the case.

In the video, the youths, whose faces were covered, could be seen raising slogans against India.

Several videos of the event have surfaced since the row broke out leading to the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition, triggering widespread protests.

A Delhi court on Tuesday sent JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, also arrested in connection with the same case, to 14 days judicial custody.

(Agencies)

JNU students Umar, Anirban sent to 14 days judicial custody

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Umar Khalid

New Delhi: A court here on Tuesday sent, to 14 days judicial custody, JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, facing sedition charges for allegedly raising “anti-India” slogans, sources said.

Both the accused were presented before a magistrate in a police station in south Delhi due to security concerns after expiry of their additional one day police custody, sources said.

On Monday, a magistrate allowed police to quiz the two Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students for one more day.

Both the students surrendered before police on last Tuesday last week outside a gate of the university.

A case against Khalid and Bhattacharya was registered at Vasant Kunj police station, soon after JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested under the same charges on February 12 after the event held on the university campus against the execution of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. He allegedly shouted anti-India slogans at the event.

(IANS)

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