Two Indian university students have been arrested and face sedition charges after they surrendered following protests in New Delhi where anti-India slogans were allegedly shouted.
After avoiding arrest for more than a week, the two came out of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus late Tuesday and gave themselves up to police.
Rajan Bhagat, New Delhi police spokesman, said the two were questioned and arrested Wednesday. The two deny the charges.
Kanhaiya Kumar, president of the university’s student union, was arrested earlier over his participation in events on February 9 when anti-India slogans calling for the destruction of India and independence for the Indian portion of Kashmir were allegedly shouted.
Police are still looking for three other students who have been missing for more than a week.
Amnesty International has joined a growing international chorus accusing India of supporting a climate of intolerance by cracking down on dissent through arbitrary arrests, caste-based discrimination, extra-judicial killings and attacks on freedom of expression.
The rights group said in its annual international report, published Wednesday, that India’s Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had failed to prevent hundreds of incidents of communal violence, usually involving members of the Hindu majority pitted against Muslims or other minorities.
