The JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) and the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) on Sunday condemned the detention and arrest of Pinjra Tod activists and university students Natasha and Devangana by Delhi Police.
The unions said that it had become clear that the Delhi police was using the lockdown to target those who led the protests against the CAA-NRC-NPR in the preceding months.
“Since the lockdown, the Crime Branch has been systematically engaged in arresting anti CAA-NRC-NPR activists, conducting intimidating interrogation sessions and seizing phones of students. It is clear that Delhi Police is using the lockdown instituted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as a shield against dissent,” the JNUSU said. It added that the arrests which took place have also involved slapping of the draconian UAPA and sedition on students for the mere crime of protesting.
Pinjra Tod, the organisation that the two students belonged to, appealed to the students’ community and others to remain vigilant and strong in their struggles.
The JNUTA said that there was a stark mismatch between the pattern of the arrests by Delhi Police and that of the violence as recorded by several independent fact-finding teams. “The Delhi Police is conducting a witch hunt of those whose only crime was being part of a democratic opposition to something they consider to be anti-constitutional,” the JNUTA said. The students and teachers demanded the immediate release of the two students and others who had been arrested.
