The National Cadet Corps (NCC) Directorate has set up a Court of Inquiry to probe a city college that had deputed cadets in a recent protest against the murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh.
NCC cadets from St. Joseph’s College had, on September 15, taken part in the ‘I am Gauri’ protest march towards Central College to condemn the murder of the journalist on September 5.
“It was an activity privately undertaken by St. Joseph's College without seeking permission/consent of the NCC authorities. The use of NCC cadets in uniform for any such event is highly prohibitive by the rules governing NCC,” said a release issued by Col. K.B. Jairaj, Director of the regional NCC Directorate, adding that NCC is ‘an apolitical and secular organisation aimed at strengthening national integration’.
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The college has formed a committee to ascertain the facts and formulate a response. Earlier, the college had told the Directorate that the students were deployed to ensure orderly conduct and discipline of their students who were participating in the protest.
Organisers of the protest categorically said the march was not political. “It was a rally where human rights activists, journalists and activists of all hues participated to condemn the killing,” said K.L. Ashok, State General Secretary of Karntaka Komu Souharda Vedike, who was one of the organisers. Taking part in the protest was a democratic right of students and was in no way an act against ‘national integration’. “How is it against the idea of the nation to protest a murder which is a fundamental violation of the law and human rights?”