In a situation echoing recent incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, two Tumakuru students from left-wing unions, who distributed pamphlets in support of the JNU movement, and got into an altercation with local Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) students, have been booked for sedition, after a complaint was filed by Srinivas, an alleged ABVP activist.

Jyothi, a law student from Vidyodaya Law College, Tumakuru, associated with the All-India Students Federation (AISF), and Chinnappa, an activist associated with the All India Youth Federation (AIYF), were reportedly injured after an assault by a gang of alleged ABVP activists, and were treated at Tumakuru District Hospital. They were discharged on Saturday.

The incident occurred on March 30, when Chinnappa, Jyothi and a few other left-wing student activists were distributing pamphlets in support of JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar. A group of ABVP students allegedly took objection and assaulted them. Chinnappa told The Hindu: “The group even called in bystanders and provoked them by falsely claiming that we were raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans,” he said.

The students had then registered a case of assault against the four alleged ABVP activists and an FIR was registered the same day. The Hindu had reported on the alleged assault by ABVP students and a case registered against them in its March 31 edition. However, following this, an alleged ABVP activist Srinivas (29) lodged a complaint that Chinnappa and Jyothi had raised the slogans ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and ‘Naxalism Zindabad’, apart from denigrating Shivakumara Swami, seer of Siddaganga Mutt. According to the FIR, Srinivas alleged that when students objected to these slogans, the two activists issued a threat. Acting on this complaint, New Extension Police registered a case under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code for sedition, among other sections.