Youth throws slipper at Kanhaiya Kumar in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Chaos prevailed at a meeting addressed by JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar here on Thursday as a slogan-shouting youth threw a slipper at him.

The incident occurred at Sundraiah Vignan Kendram, as Kanhiaya Kumar was beginning his address at the seminar on constitutional rights.

Kanhaiya Kumar addresses a press conference in Hyderabad. The Delhi student leader, who is on bail on sedition charges, arrived in Hyderabad to join protesting Hyderabad University students who are demanding that their vice-chancellor resign. Pic/AFP

The youth sitting among the audience stood up, raised slogans against the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president and threw a slipper towards him on the dais. It, however, missed the target.

The youth questioned why Kanhaiya Kumar, who he alleged supports terrorists like Afzal Guru, was being allowed to share the stage.

Activists of All India Students Federation (AISF) and others among the audience caught hold of the youth and roughed him even as Kanhaiya Kumar appealed for restraint.

Police intervened to take custody of the youth. Another youngster said to be accompanying him was also arrested. Their identity was not immediately known.

Continuing with his speech, Kanhaiya Kumar said that such incidents do not matter to him. "Do whatever you want to do, I am not the one to get scared. My way is the Gandhian way," he said.

The student leader wanted to know at whose behest they are resorting to such acts.

Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition last month after anti-national slogans were allegedly raised during a meeting organised in memory of parliament attack convict Guru on JNU campus in New Delhi.

Police did not allow him to enter University of Hyderabad on Wednesday. He wanted to address students and pay tributes to Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar who committed suicide in January.