{"id":24014,"date":"2016-03-19T05:01:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T05:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/indian-students-arrested-on-sedition-charges-get\/"},"modified":"2016-03-19T05:01:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T05:01:23","slug":"indian-students-arrested-on-sedition-charges-get","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/indian-students-arrested-on-sedition-charges-get\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian students arrested on sedition charges get bail"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>{Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both PHD students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, released.}<\/p>\n<p>Two Indian students who were arrested on sedition charges late last month have been freed on bail by a court in Delhi.<\/p>\n<p>Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both PHD students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, were released on Friday on six-months interim bail.<\/p>\n<p>Their release came two weeks after another JNU student, and president of the students&#8217; union, Kanhaiya Kumar, was granted bail.<\/p>\n<p>Kanhaiya, along with Anirban and Umar, were charged with sedition after they were accused of organising a protest march in the left-leaning university at which allegedly anti-India slogans were shouted.<\/p>\n<p>Kanhaiya earlier told Al Jazeera that the sedition law, which was drafted in the colonial era, was being used as a political tool by the government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Those who speak against them and their ideology are being branded as anti-nationals. Laws like sedition are not needed in a liberal democratic state. It is being misused.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Addressing students after his release, Umar accused the government of targeting him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I did not project myself as a practising Muslim but I was treated like an Islamist terrorist,&#8221; he said in a speech carried by the NDTV website.<\/p>\n<p>Other students welcomed their release at the prestigious university, which came under attack for allowing the rally where alleged slogans were shouted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Release of Umar and Anirban has been welcomed by JNU students and there\u2019s a mood of festivity. It\u2019s being celebrated as Holi before Holi [an Indian festival that will be observed next week],&#8221; Abhay Mishra, a PhD student, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Mishra said that JNU students had been victimised by the state and the police.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Their release has instilled a sense of joy in the campus and we will intensify the struggle in support of all political prisoners, including Professors SAR Geelani and Dr GN Saibaba,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-11038 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/3b93043b3d5248d9aaaecd71cb4bb97f_18.jpg\" alt=\"Earlier Kanhaiya Kumar told Al Jazeera that that sedition law was being used as a political tool by the current government\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both PHD students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, released.} Two Indian students who were arrested on sedition charges late last month have been freed on bail by a court in Delhi. Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, both PHD students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, were released on Friday on six-months interim bail. 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