JNU Student Leader Freed From Jail, Gets Rousing Welcome

JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar walked out of Tihar jail to a rapturous welcome on Thursday, three weeks after his arrest on sedition charges that unleashed widespread outrage with a combined opposition mounting a spirited attack on government accusing it of crushing dissent.

The 29-year-old leader's release in the evening came even as a Delhi Government-appointed magisterial probe did not find any evidence of him raising anti-India slogans at a flashpoint event at JNU campus on February 9.

The report said "nothing adverse" could be found against Kumar and that no witness or video was available to support allegations against the JNU students union president.

Kumar, a PhD student at the prestigious university, was released from the prison at 6.30 pm and accorded a spirited welcome by a group of students and teachers on being handed over to them.

Jubilations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) campus which erupted after Kumar was granted bail on Wednesday by the Delhi High Court acquired a new momentum with the students, agitating since his arrest, taking out a march shouting slogans like "Jai Kanhaiya Lal ki".

After his release, Kumar maintained that he never raised any anti-India slogans, asserting truth will prevail.

Kumar was arrested on February 12 in connection with the event to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on his third death anniversary during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

Kumar was granted interim bail for six months by the Delhi High Court on condition that he will cooperate in the ongoing investigation.

Earlier in the day, a city court issued Kumar's release order after he furnished a bail bond. Jail officials said the papers for the release of the JNU student leader were received at around 5 pm and he was released about one-and-a-half-hours later.

Five other students Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya, Rama Naga, Anant Prakash and Anirban Bhattacharya were also named by the police in the case.

Umar and Anirban had surrendered before police on the night of February 24 and they were subsequently arrested in connection with the sedition charge. Police had also questioned twice Ashutosh Kumar, another JNU student.

Kumar's arrest was seen as an attack on the university by its teachers, students and alumni who were supported by students from across the country as well as international scholars including Noam Chomski and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk among others.

Almost all the Opposition parties had come down hard on the BJP-led NDA government accusing it of muffling free speech and trying to impose RSS-backed ideology. His arrest had also triggered a debate on nationalism.