BJP legislator OP Sharma and his supporters attack a man outside a Delhi court. (Press Trust of India photo)
The violence that erupted outside a Delhi court included a BJP legislator who was assaulting a man, reported to be a Left activist. The BJP leader, OP Sharma, told news agency ANI as saying that anyone heard shouting Pro-Pakistan slogans "will be attacked".
Mr Sharma was targeted first, said the Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi, echoing the politician, who is one of three BJP legislators in the Delhi Assembly.
BJP legislator OP Sharma and his supporters attack a man outside a Delhi court
The court in Delhi was an emotionally volatile zone this afternoon even before a group of lawyers went ballistic on students, teachers and reporters gathered for the case of Kanhaiya Kumar, the student from Jawaharlal Nehru University or JNU, who was arrested last week on charges of sedition, which has enraged opposition parties who say the government is targeting defenseless students.
Some lawyers told NDTV that a JNU student got into a fight with a lawyer, and that altercation incited the violence that followed with reporters being slapped and pushed around. JNU professors claimed they were sexually harassed inside the court-room. News agency Press Trust of India says at least nine reporters and 10 JNU faculty members were attacked.
BJP legislator OP Sharma with his supporters after the attack
Last week, at an on-campus event, JNU students were heard shouting anti-India slogans and opposing the execution three years ago of terrorist Afzal Guru. The government says Mr Kumar was among those students; incorrect, says the opposition, citing a video of Mr Kumar's speech at the event which is now doing the rounds on social media.
The Delhi Police was controversially allowed by JNU officials to search hostels to locate Mr Kumar and other students mentioned in its case.
The opposition says that while it does not support unpatriotic acts, the government is guilty of over-reaction and should have allowed the university to investigate the event and decide the punishment.