According to Delhi Police Chief, BS Bassi, JNU students must prove their innocence

The five JNU students who were accused of sedition and were missing for days are back on the campus but haven’t been arrested yet. While the students say they are ready for the arrest, the police, who have not been allowed to enter the campus, are of the opinion that the students must surrender.

"They should join the probe. If they say they are innocent, they should present evidence of their innocence," said Police Chief BS Bassi making it clear that the onus in on the students to prove their innocence.

The students - Umar Khalid, Anirban, Ashutosh, Rama Naga and Ananth Prakash - have been accused of organizing an event at JNU or the Jawaharlal Nehru University on February 9 to mark the anniversary of the execution of terrorist Afzal Guru, during which anti-India slogans were raised.

Two days after the incident, Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNU students' union president, was arrested on sedition charges, for allegedly making anti-national statements. At present, he is in Delhi's Tihar jail.

"We went underground because we feared for our lives," one of the students told NDTV, while denying that they did anything wrong.

As they surfaced on the campus last night, they were joined by scores of students and teachers in a dramatic all-night sit-in as the police waited outside the gates.

"For the first time in seven years, in the last 10 days, I was made to feel like a Muslim. I was reduced to my identity and it is shameful... These people are telling us about patriotism... They may have majority but they are scared of us... they are scared of our struggle, they are afraid of us because we think...,"Umar Khalid said to cheers from supporters.

Image credit: Indiatimes