Students and faculty of JNU were attacked by lawyers at a Delhi court. (Associated Press photo)
The controversy over the arrest of a JNU student on sedition charges escalated dramatically today with violence outside a Delhi court where the student was to appear. Kanhaiya Kumar, 28, will remain in police custody for the next two days, a judge said.
Here are the 10 big developments in this story:
Before Mr Kumar was brought to court, lawyers attacked students and faculty of the Jawaharlal Nehru University or JNU, telling them "You are not required here." Journalists who were beaten alleged that policemen in the area watched passively.
Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi told NDTV that the assaults were "incidents of a minor nature". The Bar Council of India has said a retired High Court judge will investigate the violence to identify and punish the lawyers involved.
BJP legislator OP Sharma was also seen beating a person believed to be Left student leader. He told news agency ANI that anyone who chants pro-Pakistan slogans "will be beaten...yes."
Mr Kumar, the JNU student union leader, was arrested last week on charges of sedition for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans at an on-campus event which questioned the hanging of terrorist Afzal Guru three years ago.
Mr Kumar has denied any wrongdoing. Opposition parties allege that he was arrested without any evidence. The Delhi Police chief says that's incorrect.
The maximum sentence for sedition is life imprisonment. The Delhi High Court will tomorrow hear a case that asks for Mr Kumar's case to be handled by the country's top anti-terror agency, the National Investigating Agency or NIA.
Many students at JNU refused today to attend classes, a decision supported by most of the faculty at the prestigious university.
Opposition parties have united in accusing the government of wrongly asking the police to search the JNU campus for Mr Kumar and his associates. They say that while they do not support anti-national acts, the JNU event should have been investigated by the university.
The government has so far shown no signs of softening. "I can assure you that every action we take is to protect our country. Any anti-India activity will not be tolerated," BJP President Amit Shah said at the party headquarters .
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has, meanwhile, faced ridicule for citing a fake tweet to say that the JNU demonstration was backed by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
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