Government not listening to voice of students: Kanhaiya

Hyderabad, March 23 (IANS) Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday expressed solidarity with agitating students of Hyderabad University, saying the government is "not listening to the voice of the students".

Kumar told the media outside the university campus here: "We have come here today on the martyrdom day of (freedom fighter) Bhagat Singh. We stand in solidarity with the students (of Hyderabad University). The government of this country is not listening to the voice of students."

Kanhaiya arrived here on Wednesday to visit Hyderabad University and join the students' protest over the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula even as the police cracked down on the campus to bar the entry of outsiders.

Student groups at the university on Wednesday condemned what they said was "police brutality" and "sexual assault" on students protesting against Vice Chancellor P. Appa Rao.

The security personnel closed the main gate of the university and barred the entry of outsiders and the media into the campus.

"I want to tell the university administration and police who have prohibited us from entering the campus that you can't suppress our voice," the JNU student leader said.

Appa Rao went on leave after he was named in the case registered in connection with the suicide of Vemula in January. He resumed duties on Tuesday, against which the students were protesting.

Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on February 12 on charge of sedition after anti-national slogans were aired at an event on the JNU campus on February 9 to commemorate the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.