Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students shouted slogans against the administration during a mashal juloos on campus late on Wednesday night.
They were protesting against the punishments given by the administration in connection with February 9 event.
The JNU administration had on Monday rusticated Umar Khalid for one semester, Anirban Bhattacharya till July 15 and made the campus out of bounds for him for five years. Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and some other students have been asked to pay a fine in connection with an event marking the death anniversary of Afzal Guru.
The march later culminated in an indefinite hunger strike at the admin block, the same place where the students had on Tuesday burnt copies of the report in protest. Some students will sit on an indefinite hunger strike, while others will keep joining the group on a daily basis.
“There are some pressing concerns in the University, the admission policy has been changed this year, the deprivation points have been reduced and all that the administration is paying attention to is how can they harass students,” said JNUSU vice-president Shehla Rashid. She added that this protest is not only against the JNU administration, but against the “saffronisation of education” and “stifling of voices of dissent” in the country, especially among the student community.
“First Rohith Vemula and now Umar, Anirban and other JNU students, they have all been targeted for expressing their views. The government is certainly not comfortable with anyone who tries to speak. Through our hunger strike, we are trying to raise concerns about the larger issue.” The students said the hunger strike will also demand the enactment of the Rohith Act and justice for Rohith Vemula.
