JNU row: Varsity rusticates Umar and Anirban, imposes Rs 10K fine on Kanhaiya

New Delhi The JNU today slapped a fine of Rs10000 on student leader Kanhaiya Kumar and rusticated threeothers for varying durations over their alleged role in thecontroversial February 9 event for which they were chargedwith sedition an action which had sparked outrage andtriggered protestsBased on the findings of a highlevel enquiry committeeHLEC Umar Khalid has been rusticated for one semester andanother leader Anirban Bhattacharya till July 15 Umar hasalso been slapped a fine of Rs 20000 Anirban has also beenbarred from JNU campus for a period of five years from July23Kanhaiya Kumar President of Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union speaks during youth assembly in Mumbai on Saturday PicPTIKashmiri student Mujeeb Gattoo has been rusticated fortwo semesters A penalty of Rs 10000 has been imposed on JNUstudents union JNUSU joint secretary Saurabh Sharma theonly ABVP member in the unionJNU students union president Kanhaiya Umar and Anirbanwere arrested on charges of sedition in February in connectionwith the controversial event and are out on bailTheir arrests had triggered widespread protests at JNUand many other universities following which the Oppositionhad accused the government of attempting to stifle dissentWhile Umar and Anirban were blamed for triggeringcommunal violence and disrupting communal harmony on thecampus Mujeeb was found guilty of participating sloganeeringKanhaiya was pronounced guilty of indiscipline and misconductThose who have been imposed fine of Rs 20000 each includeformer JNUSU President Ashutosh Kumar former generalsecretary Chintu Kumari current General Secretary Rama NagaAishwarya Adhikari former Vice President Anant PrakashNarayan and Gargi for violating dissciplinary normsThe campus has been made out of bounds for two formerstudents Banojyotsana Lahiri and Draupadi while hostelfacilities of Ashutosh Kumar have been withdrawn for a yearand Komal Mohite till July 21In his reaction Kanhaiya said the punitive actionannounced by the authorities was simply unacceptable andthat the students rejected it The students will hold an allparty meeting later tonight to finalise future course ofactionWe completely reject this farcical enquiry report as itis based on sheer vendetta and a biased enquiry These are allinnocent students coming from extremely humble andunderprivileged backgrounds JNUSU Vice President ShehlaRashid Shora saidThe JNU had constituted a fivemember highlevel enquirycommittee to investigate the controversial event at the campuson February 9 and the panel had found some students guilty ofviolating disciplinary norms and disrupting communal harmony on the campusAn official of the JNU said financial penalty has beenimposed on 14 students including KanhaiyaAnirbans punishment is the harshest as he has beendebarred from the university for five yearsWhen asked about punishment to Anirban the officialsaid During the period of rustication the student ceases toexist on rolls of the university but has an option of joiningback and reenrolling in the same course after period ofrustication is overHowever following debarment from the university for aperiod the student cannot enroll in any course or join anyacademic activities on campus the official saidHe said while Umar and Gattoo will have the option ofresuming their courses once the period of rustication is overAnirban has been given a window of a week July 1623 tocomplete his thesisIf he is unable to do so he will not be able to seek anextension or reenroll as he has been debarred from universityfor five years on completion of that week If his PhD is notcompleted during this period he will not be able to do it fromJNU for five years however he can enroll at some otheruniversity he saidThe official said disciplinary measures have been takenfor not following university procedures misinforming theuniversity misconduct and indiscipline causing and colludingin the unauthorised entry of persons into the campus puttingup objectionable posters arousing communal caste or regionalfeelings and creating disharmony blockade or forcefulprevention of any normal movement of traffic and violation ofsecurity safety rules notified by the universityThe committee imposed the fine on Sharma who had objectedto the event for blocking traffic on the day it happenedSurprisingly Aishwarya whose name was not mentioned in thereport has also been imposed the financial penaltyA farce is what this enquiry has been made from day 1 towitchhunt students and punish them by hook and crook I wantto tell the VC that his friend Appa Rao did the same inHyderabad university but our friends fought back We will alsodo the same said UmarA senior university official said Based on the report ofthe highlevel committee which arrived at its conclusion basedon depositions perusal of video clips provided by JNUsecurity and authenticated by forensic tests and examinationof documents on record the university has decided torusticate three studentsThe report of the fivemember panel has underlined lapseson part of administration and taken into account the role ofoutsiders in the event However no action has been takenagainst any administrative officialAs per the committee findings application for holdingthis event circumvented the permission process and theorganisers disobeyed the instructions from the administrationnot to hold it and that amounted to wilful defiance theJNU official saidFollowing the preliminary report of the committee theuniversity had suspended eight students However theirsuspension was revoked when the panel submitted it reporton March 11Slamming the authorities for the action against thestudents Shora saidThey are all dedicated activists andthis is a conspiracy to crush antiModi voicesNot only will we not remain silent against thisantipeople government we will also challenge this sham of areport The punishments are all based on onesided statementsfrom ABVP members and our repeated calls to conduct a fairenquiry were ignoredAccusing the Vice Chancellor of taking directions fromthe Centre and acting as an RSS loyalist she said thestudents will launch a countrywide campaign to expose thegovernments antistudent and antiDalit characterRakesh Bhatnagar the head of the committee is thetreasurer of antireservationist Youth for Equality and moststudents who have been punished belong to Dalit Muslim andbackward castes she saidABVPs Sharma said punishments announced by JNU is acompromise and not penaltyPenalising me for blocking traffic for stopping the eventis injustice he said