Five Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students named in the sedition case resurfaced on Sunday night in the JNU campus saying they did not do anything wrong but were "framed" using "doctored video". The five students - Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rama Naga, Ashutosh Kumar and Anant Prakash - had gone missing from the campus since February 12 after JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested in a sedition case.
The case was lodged in connection with an event held on the campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised. The students who returned to the campus said the massive support they got from students and others from across the globe gave them the strength to return. "We were around but did not come in public due to atmosphere of mob lynching," the students said.
Umar Khalid: My name is Umar Khalid but I'm not a terrorist. I got to know that I have been to Pakistan twice, I don't even have a passport but I got to know that I have been to Pakistan twice. For the last 6-7 years that I have done politics in the campus, I have never thought of myself as a Muslim. I have never projected myself as a Muslim. It's not just the Muslims who are facing suppression, even the Dalits and adivasis are being suppressed.
Rama Naga: On February 9, there were a lot of people from outside JNU. When untoward slogans started being raised, as student representatives, we told the organisers about it and asked them to put an end to it. An atmosphere was created to target some students, and create an environment of terror. In such a situation, even we felt we must stay at a safer place.
Ashutosh Kumar: The way media trial happened after the February 9, and then the V-C wrote to the police to act against us where there were no grounds on sedition. We were targetted and police was asked to arrest us. Media formed its opinion on a fake video. Then the JNU community took the streets and stood by us. It was then that we got the confidence to come out.
Anant Prakash: The anti-India slogans were not by any JNU students, we tried to stop them. They were masked people who were not a part of JNU. It was on the fake video as well. Was I in that video? Then why was I named in the FIR? It's proven that we were trapped into this. We never heard any 'Pakistan zindabad' slogans, but we heard anti-India slogans.
Meanwhile, Kanhaiya Kumar's brother Manikant Singh backed the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President saying he has been framed by the political parties. "Keep walking on the same path, keep exercising your freedom of speech. I trust you and I'm proud of you. We will together deal will whatever happens," Kanhaiya's brother asserted.
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