New Delhi: JNU Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, on Wednesday rejected the university Vice Chancellor's appeal to call off his agitation and come for discussions.
Refusing to back out, Kumar said the protest against the punishment handed out to him and 19 other students by a high-level committee that probed the 9 February event on the campus will continue.
Through a series of tweets, the JNUSU president questioned on what ground the JNU vice chancellor has declared their hunger strike ''unlawful''
JNU VC says "hunger strike unlawful" Were Gandhi and Bhagat Singh unlawful too? #JNUonHungerStrike #StandWithJnu pic.twitter.com/7pa5Llx4Iu
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyajnusu) May 4, 2016
He also compared himself with the likes of Bhagat Singh and Mahatma Gandhi in another tweet.
The reactions from JNUSU leader came shortly after JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagdeesh Kumar appealed to the agitating students to end their hunger strike and asked them to approach the administration to discuss their demands.
Expressing concern over the worsening health of the students, Kumar, through a notice, said, ''Hunger strike is an unlawful activity and a harmful method of protest that adversely affects the health and career of the students."
"The administration urges the students to use constitutional means to put forth their demands, if any," the notice said.
JNU Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and 19 other students went on an indefinite hunger strike since April 28 to protest against the punishment handed out to them by a high-level committee that probed the 9 February event on the campus.
Anti-national slogans were raised at an event held on the JNU campus on 9 February to commemorate executed parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, following which Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested on sedition charges.
The committee report, which was released on 25 April, fined Kumar Rs.10,000 and rusticated Khalid and Bhattacharya for one semester each. Another research scholar, Mujeeb Gatto, was rusticated for two semesters. Khalid was also asked to pay Rs.20,000 as fine by 13 May.
