Student bodies stand with Aligarh Muslim University

Various student bodies expressed solidarity with Aligarh Muslim University and called for the revocation of sedition cases against 14 students of AMU in a joint press conference held here on Friday. The Uttar Pradesh police had booked 14 AMU students for sedition on Tuesday following a complaint filed by a local leader of BJP.

The press conference was called by Aligarh Muslim University Students Union, Students Islamic Organisation(SIO) of India and students of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI).

However, AMUSU office bearers who could not make it to the event claimed that they were "not allowed" to attend the press conference at Delhi. Hamza Sufyan, vice-president AMU Students' Union and Ferdous Ahmed, cabinet member alleged that while they were on their way to Delhi, they were stopped by the UP Police at Tappal near Aligarh.

Sufyan maintained that the cops "forcibly" sent them back. Former AMUSU president Mashkoor Usmani was also detained separately at Lodha for close to an hour.

Meanwhile, speaking at the press conference, the student leaders said the law of sedition which is a draconian law can only be involved in cases where the sovereignty and integrity of the Union of India are threatened by violent acts.

"It is, however, unclear how the law of sedition was applied to a scuffle that happened at AMU campus, and that too applied not against the culprits but against the victims. It must be noted that among the 14 students against whom sedition case was filed, some were not even present in Aligarh at the time," Syed Azharuddin, general secretary, SIO said.

The students also referred to recent media reports in which the police have stated to have found no evidence of sedition against AMU students. "The careless and casual manner in which sedition law was invoked shows the best attitude of UP police, and leaves us to believe that it was involved only to create a controversy and malign the image of the university," Meeran Haidar of JMI said.

"This is not the first time that an unnecessary controversy is being created around AMU to polarise the society along communal lines. We condemn this action of the UP government and demand that the false case of sedition against 14 AMU students should immediately be revoked. We also demand that strict action should be taken against the ABVP and BJP youth wing activists who had created a right like the situation in the campus," Azharuddinn said.