Teachers, students join JNU hunger strike

Hundreds of teachers and students joined the indefinite hunger strike against the penalty slapped on 21 students in connection to the February 9 event held in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday.

As many as 130 teachers and 222 students showed their support to the students who have been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike for the last six days on the JNU campus. 

The protestors are demanding the revocation of the penalty slapped against all the students.

The two groups, Left and the Right, have been staging separate hunger strikes but both the groups are demanding the revocation of the punishment.

On Monday, the joint-secretary of the JNU students’ body Saurabh Sharma was shifted to the Safdarjung hospital after falling ill due to his continuous fasting. Sharma, who represents the Bharatiya Janata 

Party-linked Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on the campus, is one of the students besides 20 students who were charged with violation of the University Code of Conduct.

All the 21 students including the JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kyumar, who was charged with sedition, have been found guilty by a high-level inquiry committee. The committee was formed after a controversial event held on February 9, to commemorate Afzal guru, who was convicted by the Supreme Court for his role in the Parliament attack case. 

The high-level committee concluded its investigation a fortnight ago and recommended for the punishment ranging from the rustication to outbound to monitory fine.  Following the report last week, the University administration took action against all the students involved.