Congress questions sedition charge against JNU students, government backs Delhi Police

New Delhi: The opposition led by Congress on Thursday slammed the government in the Parliament and questioned sedition charge against a section JNU student.

They alleged that attempts were being made to save the perpetrators of violence in Patiala House court, claiming that Delhi Police was equally involved in the incident.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad questioned, "How can Delhi police slap sedition charges against the students based on doctored video when the real videos of Patiala House court violence leads to only FIR and bail within 30 minutes."

Union Home minister Rajnath Singh objected to Azad's remark and said, "The Delhi police handled all the recent incidents in a professional manner."

He said, "The police acted as per law in the anti-national and anti-constitutional incidents in the JNU. A group of many students in the university tried to vitiate the atmosphere but it remained limited to the university premises."

On the context of Patiala House court incident, he said, "What happened was very sad and I condemn it. No wise person will support it. I will only say that action has been taken. FIR has been registered."

Earlier, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury began the debate and accused the Modi government of partisan intervention in the JNU row.

"In the name of that (nationalism) to penalise the university as a whole. That I think is unfortunate. You don't have to teach us patriotism," Yechury said while attacking Singh and Education Minister Smriti Irani for their speeches in a similar debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned due to disruptions with Smriti Irani unable to finish her reply over facts behind Rohith Vemula's suicide case, sedition charges against JNU students etc.

Referring to Ghulam Nabi Azad's speech, Irani said, "He (Azad) spoke so eloquently on the snow in Kashmir...But how many Kashmiri Pandits saw the snow in their homelands."

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley critised Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and said, his visit to JNU amounted to providing respectability to a movement whose aim was to break India.