Now, Poster Demanding “Freedom For Kashmir” Appears In JNU

Freedom for Kashmir! Free Palestine! Right to Self-Determination Long Live!

This is what a poster which appeared at the Jawaharlal Nehu University (JNU) campus yesterday (2 March) said. Found put up on the wall of the School of Social Sciences' new block, it was immediately brought to the attention of the university’s administration, who directed it to be taken down by evening, reported The Times of India.

Interestingly, the poster carries the name of ultra-Left group Democratic Students Union (DSU) as its signature. One of the Union’s former members, Umar Khalid, has been the subject of a controversy from 9 February last year, when he was alleged to have raised “anti-national” slogans at a protest rally against the hanging of Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

More recently, amidst the fight that broke out between Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and All India Students Association in Delhi University’s Ramjas College, the “azadi” slogan reportedly reared its ugly head once again. Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul posted a video clip of the shouts on Twitter.

About the new “azadi” poster found at JNU campus and later removed, the Times of India report quoted a student of the Left (but not belonging to the DSU) as saying,

Khalid, along with former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, are out on bail after they were arrested on charges of sedition for the 9 February event.