Protests broke out at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday after the Supreme Court rejected bail pleas filed by activists and university alumni Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.
Videos of the protest quickly circulated on social media, with some clips purportedly capturing objectionable slogans being raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and industrialist Gautam Adani.
JNU Marks Anniversary Of 2020 Campus Violence
The protests coincided with the sixth anniversary of the January 5, 2020 violence at the JNU campus, when masked attackers assaulted students and teachers inside the university premises.
Observing the day, JNU described the incident as a “brutal attack” and alleged that those responsible remain unidentified even years later, claiming the attackers continue to be “masked” as no arrests have been made.
Umar, Sharjeel Denied Bail
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam while granting relief to five other accused in the case, citing a “hierarchy of participation” and placing the two on a “qualitatively different footing”.
A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria said Khalid and Imam were allegedly involved in the “planning, mobilisation and strategic direction” of the February 2020 riots. The court granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.
The apex court, however, allowed Khalid and Imam to file fresh bail applications either after the examination of protected witnesses or one year from the date of the order.
It was not immediately clear when the five granted bail would be released from jail, though their lawyers expressed hope that the process would be completed by Tuesday.
The February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi erupted amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), leaving at least 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
Khalid, who has been in custody since 2020, recently returned to public attention after New York City’s newly sworn-in mayor Zohran Mamdani sent him a handwritten note expressing empathy.