Interim bail to Umar, Anirban: Supporters celebrate holi at JNU
Both the JNU students arrested in a sedition case almost a month ago, were granted interim bail for six months by a Delhi court.
New Delhi: Scores of JNU students on Friday celebrated the news of six months interim bail to Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya with holi colours and 'azadi' chants.
Both the JNU students arrested in a sedition case almost a month ago, were granted interim bail for six months by a Delhi court.
"I have been to jail, I know what being there is. I am glad our comrades will be back but the struggle does not end here," said JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was already granted bail in the sedition case earlier.
Scores of students sprinkled gulal and danced to the tunes of daflis amid 'azadi' slogan. They also planned a victory march later tonight on the campus on return of Umar and Anirban.
"With the release of comrade Kanhaiya, there was some relief. But now, with the release of Umar and Anirban, it seems that we can actually heave a sigh of relief before we can gear up again for an intensified struggle again," said Shehla Rashid Shora, vice president of JNUSU.
"The arrest and possible arrest of our comrades had given sleepless nights. I would get nightmares of police raids and woke up in the middle of night, scared and exhausted," she said.
Umar and Anirban facing a sedition case after a controversial event on JNU to mark the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on February 9, had surrendered before the police on the intervening night of February 23-24, hours after the Delhi high court refused to grant them protection from arrest.
They were lodged in jail and had sought bail on the ground of parity with Kanhaiya, saying he has already been granted bail and the incident did not attract charges of sedition.