A group of lawyers on Wednesday attacked a journalist and other lawyers in yet another clash outside a court in New Delhi’s Patiala House court premises ahead of JNU Students’ Union president Kanhiya Kumar’s hearing in the sedition case.
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Prasad, however, evaded a direct reply on violence targeting journalists and students in the Patiala House court complex yesterday as well today, saying the matter is under investigation and he himself had yesterday condemned “what happened to the press people”. Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi has said that the police were trying to identifying those involved in the violence but have made no arrests despite several newspapers naming the lawyers and publishing their photographs prominently.
While being taken to hear his case, lawyers who had gathered raising “Vande Mataram” slogans allegedly attacked Kanhaiya Kumar. Stones were thrown at reporters outside the compound.
Today, he was attacked twice in court. I have full faith in the Constitution as well as the judiciary of the country: Kanhaiya Kumar in courtUse of force in the court would have been counter-productive: BassiWe have followed norms of prudent policing: BassiLawyers are officers of court.
The arrest of the 32-year-old student union leader has sparked a major row over freedom of expression in India, where some rights campaigners say the Hindu nationalist government is using the British-era sedition law to clamp down on dissent.
However, it said these directions would apply only on Wednesday. Khalid was one of the organisers for Parliament Attack convict Afzal Guru event and has been absconding after the incident. He accused the Delhi Police of once again being the “mute spectators”.
Police sources told AFP raids were taking place on premises in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The lawyers waved Indian flags and chanted slogans like “glory to Mother India” and “traitors leave India”.
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The arrest of Kumar has turned into a highly-emotive and politically-charged controversy, with the opposition and large sections of the JNU students and faculty accusing the government of an unwarranted crackdown on campus dissent.
