I am being targeted because I am a Dalit: JNUSU leader Rama Naga

New Delhi: JNUSU leader Rama Naga, who is one of the five students accused of sedition, on Monday said he is being targeted not for indulging in any "anti-national" activity but because he is a Dalit.

"The issue of slogans on February 9 is merely a pretext. It is not just 'Afzal ki baat' but 'Ambedkar ki baat' too that is leading to sedition charges. I am being targeted not because of indulging in any anti-national activity but for being a Dalit," the JNU Students Union General Secretary said.

"We know that yesterday in Gwalior JNU teacher Vivek Kumar was fired upon and copies of Constitution were burnt when he was delivering a talk on Ambedkar," he said.

Naga along with Umar Khalid, Anant Prakash, Ashutosh Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya had last night returned to the JNU campus after being in hiding since February 12 following the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges.

The student leader also said "the Vice Chancellor (of JNU) will take a call" on whether they will surrender to police.

A JNUSU statement meanwhile said: "We as JNUSU office bearers are committed to defend freedom of expression of students and will fight criminalisation of dissent.

"We are the ones fighting against 'bharat ki barbadi' at the hands of communal and corporate fascism."