AGRA: In a significant observation while granting bail to three Kashmiri students from Agra booked on charges of sedation for their alleged "anti-India" messages on social media during last year’s India-Pak T-20 World Cup match, the Allahabad high court has said, "the unity of India is not made of bamboo reeds which will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans".
In his order Justice Ajay Bhanot said, "The foundations of our nation are more enduring. Eternal ideals bind the indestructible unity of India. Constitutional values create an indissoluble union of India. Every citizen of the country is the custodian, and the state is the sentinel of the unity of India and the constitutional values of the nation.”
The order also stated that students travelling freely to different parts of the country in the quest for knowledge is the true celebration of India's diversity and a vivid manifestation of India's unity. "It is the duty of the people of the hosting state to create enabling conditions for visiting scholars to learn and to live the constitutional values of our nation. It is also the obligation of the young scholars to imbibe and adhere to such values," the order stated.
Justice Bhanot stated, "Constancy of Indian values and perpetuity of the Indian people led the poet Iqbal to sing aloud the glory of our motherland: "Kuch Baat hai Ki Hasti, mitati nahi humari.. Sadiyon Raha hai Dushman, Daur-e-jaman humara.. sare Jahan Se acha hindostan humara."
The court also took exception to the decision of the Agra District Bar Association for not providing any legal assistance to the Kashmiri students and the assault on them in the district court premises dubbed it as a "matter of concern". The order states, "The court does not propose to inquire into these allegations at this stage since it is better to enlarge the applicants on bail and cut the controversy short".
"Lawyers have an oath inscribed in their consciences to assist the cause of law under all circumstances and to serve justice to all those who seek it at all times," the court order stated.
Counsel for applicant Sudhakar Yadav said that all students will be released soon after furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned.
