Arrested on charges of sedition, Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union president Kanhaiya Kumar was to be produced in a Delhi court on Monday. But well before he was produced and his police custody extended by another two days, it was the violence outside the courthouse that made headlines.
A group of lawyers arrived at the courthouse in the morning and started thrashing JNU students and teachers who were present at the spot. Carrying placards and shouting slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Long live India, down with JNU”, the group claimed to be lawyers opposed to the anti-national slogans used by JNU students at a rally in the college campus on February 9.
Journalists also complained of having been forced out of the court complex by the lawyers. They also alleged that the police present in the court complex did not come to their aid as they were manhandled.
Here’s a video of the violence:
The lawyers demanded that teachers and students of JNU, along with media personnel, be sent out of the court room. Later, a scuffle broke out as several journalists and students were dragged out, and many were even beaten, The Indian Express reported.
Soon afterwards, BJP MLA OP Sharma was seen beating up an unidentified man outside the court complex and was booked for assault, reported DNA.
One eye witness told DNA that, “I am not even a JNU student. We are peacefully waiting for him. Some 6-7 lawyers, started pointing towards us and then they abused and called us Pakistanis.”