JU erases ‘Azad Kashmir' graffiti from campus

1
2
Kolkata:
Jadavpur University
administration on Tuesday removed the controversial "Azad Kashmir" graffiti from the walls of Technology Bhavan near Gate 3.
Jadavpur University
Trinamool Chhatra Parishad
Unit on Monday wrote to
pro-VC Amitava Datta
, demanding the graffiti be erased in the wake of the Pahalgam incident, as it is a "sign of utter disrespect to
national integrity
and aims to provoke anti-national sentiment on campus". Registrar Indrajit Banerjee said, "The university, during a meeting in March, had taken the decision to erase the "Azad Kashmir" graffiti. We are cleaning the walls of the entire campus as part of the beautification drive. So it took some time to process."
JU administration's graffiti clean-up drive started on March 24, when slogans against education minister Bratya Basu were erased from the walls of Aurobindo Bhavan, after the March 1 incident of violence. Graffiti of injured student Indranuj Roy and former student Sahil Ali, who was arrested, were erased. Two days later, students reclaimed the walls with fresh slogans.
Though the 'Azad Kashmir' graffiti was next in line to be removed, JU focused on erasing non-controversial slogans in the following days. The fresh slogans have also been removed. A JU TMCP member said, "It is a moral and political win for us."

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

First Post

14 minutes ago

• First Post

US judge orders release of pro-Palestinian Columbia graduate from immigration custody

Khalil was the latest in a string of foreign pro-Palestinian students arrested in the U.S. starting in March who have subsequently been released by a judge. They include Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysya Ozturk read more A U.S. judge ordered on Friday that Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil be released immediately from immigration custody, a major victory for rights groups that challenged what they called the Trump administration's unlawful targeting of a pro-Palestinian activist. Khalil, a prominent figure in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's war on Gaza, was arrested by immigration agents in the lobby of his university residence in Manhattan on March 8. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has called the protests antisemitic and vowed to deport foreign students who took part. Khalil became the first target of this policy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD After hearing oral arguments from lawyers for Khalil and for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz of Newark, New Jersey, ordered DHS to release him from custody at a jail for immigrants in rural Louisiana by as soon as 6:30 pm (7:30 ET) on Friday. Farbiarz said the government had made no attempt to rebut evidence provided by Khalil's lawyers that he was not a flight risk nor a danger to the public. 'There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish the petitioner (Khalil),' Farbiarz said as he ruled from the bench, adding that punishing someone over a civil immigration matter was unconstitutional. Khalil was the latest in a string of foreign pro-Palestinian students arrested in the U.S. starting in March who have subsequently been released by a judge. They include Mohsen Mahdawi and Rumeysya Ozturk. Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., says he is being punished for his political speech in violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Khalil condemned antisemitism and racism in interviews with CNN and other news outlets last year. The Syrian-born activist plans to return to New York to be with his wife Dr. Noor Abdalla and their infant son who was born during Khalil's 104 days in detention. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'This ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others," Abdalla said in a statement. 'Today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family and the community that has supported us since the day he was unjustly taken for speaking out for Palestinian freedom." The White House condemned the decision to release Khalil, saying he should be deported for 'conduct detrimental to American foreign policy interests' and fraudulently obtaining a student visa. 'There is no basis for a local federal judge in New Jersey —who lacks jurisdiction — to order Khalil's release from a detention facility in Louisiana,' White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. 'We expect to be vindicated on appeal." Even though a federal judge ordered Khalil be freed, the immigration proceedings against him continue. The Louisiana immigration judge in his case on Friday denied his asylum request, ruled he could be deported based on the government's allegations of immigration fraud, and denied a bail hearing. Farbiarz's decision rendered the bail request moot. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Like others facing deportation, Khalil has avenues to appeal within the immigration system. Farbiarz is also considering Khalil's challenge of his deportation on constitutional grounds, and has blocked officials from deporting Khalil while that challenge plays out. Earlier this month, Farbiarz ruled the government was violating Khalil's free speech rights by detaining him under a little-used law granting the U.S. secretary of state power to seek deportation of non-citizens whose presence in the country was deemed adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests. On June 13, the judge declined to order Khalil's release from a detention center in Jena, Louisiana, after Trump's administration said Khalil was being held on a separate charge that he withheld information from his application for lawful permanent residency. Khalil's lawyers deny that allegation and say people are rarely detained on such charges. On June 16, they urged Farbiarz to grant a separate request from their client to be released on bail or be transferred to immigration detention in New Jersey to be closer to his family in New York. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD At Friday's hearing, Farbiarz said it was 'highly unusual' for the government to jail an immigrant accused of omissions in his application for U.S. permanent residency. Khalil, 30, became a U.S. permanent resident last year, and his wife and newborn son are U.S. citizens. Trump administration lawyers wrote in a June 17 filing that Khalil's request for release should be addressed to the judge overseeing his immigration case, an administrative process over whether he can be deported, rather than to Farbiarz, who is considering whether Khalil's March 8 arrest and subsequent detention were constitutional.

Hindustan Times

2 hours ago

• Hindustan Times

Mahmoud Khalil ICE detention case: Federal judge orders release of Columbia protester

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to free former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from the immigration detention center where he has been held since early March while the Trump administration sought to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Federal judge has ordered the release of Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil.(REUTERS) Ruling from the bench in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be 'highly, highly unusual" for the government to continue to detain a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn't been accused of any violence. 'Petitioner is not a flight risk and the evidence presented is that he is not a danger to the community,' he said. 'Period, full stop.' Later in the hourlong hearing, which took place by phone, the judge said the government had 'clearly not met' the standards for detention. Khalil could walk out of the detention center in rural Louisiana by Friday evening, which is when lawyers for the Trump administration said they expect to release him. He must surrender his passport and can't travel internationally, but he will get his green card back and be given official documents permitting limited travel within the country, including New York and Michigan to visit family, New Jersey and Louisiana for court appearances and Washington to lobby Congress. Khalil was the first person arrested under President Donald Trump 's crackdown on students who joined campus protests against Israel's devastating war in Gaza. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Khalil must be expelled from the country because his continued presence could harm American foreign policy. Farbiarz had ruled earlier that the government couldn't deport Khalil on those grounds, but gave it leeway to continue pursuing a potential deportation based on allegations that he lied on his green card application. Trump administration lawyers repeated that accusation at Friday's court hearing. It's an accusation Khalil disputes. In issuing his ruling Friday, the judge agreed with Khalil's lawyers that the protest leader was being prevented from exercising his free speech and due process rights despite no obvious reason for his continued detention. The judge noted that Khalil is now clearly a public figure. Khalil's lawyers had asked that he either be freed on bail or, at the very least, moved from Louisiana to New Jersey so he can be closer to his wife and newborn son, who are both U.S. citizens. Khalil's wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, said she can finally 'breathe a sigh of relief' after her husband's three months in detention. 'We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family, and so many others,' she said in a statement provided by Khalil's lawyers. 'But today we are celebrating Mahmoud coming back to New York to be reunited with our little family.' The judge's decision comes after several other scholars targeted for their activism have been released from custody, including another former Palestinian student at Columbia, Mohsen Mahdawi; a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk; and a Georgetown University scholar, Badar Khan Suri. Khalil was detained on March 8 at his apartment building in Manhattan over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The international affairs graduate student isn't accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. He served as a negotiator and spokesperson for student activists and wasn't among the demonstrators arrested, but his prominence in news coverage and willingness to speak publicly made him a target of critics. The Trump administration has argued that noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country as it considers their views antisemitic.

Time of India

3 hours ago

• Time of India

Big relief for Mahmoud Khalil, US judge orders release of ex-Columbia student held over Gaza protests

A US federal judge has ordered the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, delivering a major legal win for civil rights advocates. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and prominent voice in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's war on Gaza, was arrested earlier this year. Show more Show less