The Syndicate meeting of the University of Mysore on Friday decided to constitute a committee to conduct an inquiry into the recent protest by the PG students held to express solidarity with their counterparts of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. The Mysuru protest got embroiled in controversy as one of the participants — Nalini Balakumar — carried a ‘Free Kashmir’ placard following which the jurisdictional police booked a sedition case against her and the those who had organised the protest.
The meeting, chaired by G. Hemantha Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of the university, spent a considerable amount of time discussing the issue and its fallouts and some of the members. Though some Syndicate members wanted action to be initiated against the students who took part in the protest, it was resolved to constitute a committee and hold an inquiry.
Meanwhile, a group of lawyers from Mysuru have decided to file a ‘vakalat’ in the court to represent Nalini Balakumar and other students. The lawyers who will appear on her behalf took a dim view of the Mysuru Bar Association which had resolved against representing her in the court. The Mysuru Court has posted the hearing of the case for Monday. The lawyers who have decided to appear on behalf of Nalini Balakumar issued a statement here on Friday stating that she and other students who have been booked for sedition, have rights to be represented in the court. “As senior lawyers we are committed to provide all legal assistance to students who need not worry about the case and should continue to pursue their studies without any fear,” the statement read.
