Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the JNU students' union, was taken for questioning and then arrested this afternoon. He has been charged with sedition and conspiracy. The arrest came hours after Home Minister Rajnath Singh warned of "stringent action" against the organisers of the event. "Anyone who raises anti-India slogans or tries to put a question mark on nation's unity and integrity will not be spared," the home minister said, adding that he had instructed the police to take strongest possible action. The police searched the JNU campus in South Delhi for more students suspected to be involved in the event. The police swooped down on the prestigious institution as protests raged on campus and near India Gate in the heart of Delhi over the event organized on Tuesday to mark the death anniversary of Afzal Guru. Anti-India slogans were allegedly raised during the event, titled "The country without a post office", in which students organized an exhibition and a protest march. The university claims it cancelled permission for the event, which was allegedly pitched as a cultural function. Vice-Chancellor Jagdeesh Kumar has called it an act of indiscipline. The BJP's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held protests and demanded action against the university and the students behind the Afzal Guru event. Education Minister Smriti Irani also condemned the incident and said: "The nation can never tolerate any insult to mother India." The student's arrest has drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties. Left leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted: What is happening in JNU? Police on campus, arrests and picking up students from hostels. This had last happened during Emergency." This is not the first time that JNU, one of the country's top academic institutions, has witnessed events in support of Afzal Guru. http://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/wont-spare-those-behind-anti-india-slogans-says-rajnath-singh-on-jnu-protest-1276563

• published: 12 Feb 2016
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