How Umar Khalid and Four Other Students From JNU Spent A Night Waiting to be Arrested

On 21 February 2016, Sunday, five students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)—Anirban Bhattacharya, Umar Khalid, Ashutosh, Rama Naga and Anant Prakash—resurfaced on the campus for the first time since charges of criminal conspiracy and sedition were framed against them. These students were being charged because of an event that was held at JNU on 9 February, to mark the hanging of Mohammad Afzal, who was convicted in the 2001 terror attack on the parliament.

Khalid, who made a speech late at night, remained at the administration block till the next morning, surrounded by other students, security guards and members of the faculty. Although the five students said that they would peacefully court arrest if the police were to arrive, none of them have been arrested so far. On Sunday, Nikhil Roshan, an independent photojournalist, went to JNU at around 10.30 pm. Roshan stayed there until 10 am the next day, capturing the scenes that unfolded at the university through the night.