New Delhi: Nearly three weeks after they were granted bail, three Kashmiri students who were jailed in Agra for allegedly celebrating the Pakistan cricket team’s victory over the Indian team remain behind bars.According to the Times of India, though they were granted bail on March 30, the students are still in jail due to the “unavailability of local guarantors, a high surety amount, and delays in bank processing and police verifications”.They were arrested in October last year, after they allegedly celebrated the Pakistan cricket team’s victory over India in a T-20 World Cup match.The court had asked the students to furnish a personal bond and two sureties each before they are released from jail.The advocate for the students, Madhuvan Dutt told The Wire, “We have furnished the amount of the bond that was needed as per the conditions of the bail order. We are expecting that issue will be terminated soon.” He said the sureties were submitted on April 6.Manzoor Wani, a friend of the students, said that they had to borrow money to furnish the sureties. “A total of Rs 6 lakh has been submitted. We are currently waiting for the verification process to be completed. We are hoping that the students will be able to walk out of jail soon,” he told The Wire.The uncle of one of the students told TOI that locals “weren’t ready to support Kashmiris”.“No local was ready to give guarantees for us as we are Kashmiris. We had no option but to arrange six guarantors – two for each of the students – from Kashmir. Due to this, the entire process was delayed,” he said.The father of an accused student, who is from the Bandipora district, told the newspaper that he sold his land to arrange money for the bail.Watch: ‘Celebrating Pak Cricket Victory Over India Definitely Not Sedition’: Ex-SC JudgeBackgroundThe students were enrolled at the Raja Balwant Singh Engineering College in Agra as beneficiaries of the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme for economically weak students of Jammu and Kashmir.They were arrested on October 27, after they allegedly sent messages celebrating India’s cricket loss. While the first information report registered by the police initially mentioned sections Section 153-A (enmity between communities), 505-(1) (B) (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66-F (cyber-terrorism) of the Information Technology Act, the offence of sedition was added later. This charge (Section 124A) was added after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said “those celebrating Pakistan’s victory will have to face sedition charges”.Granting bail to the three students, Justice Ajay Bhanot of the Allahabad high court noted:“The unity of India is not made of bamboo reeds that will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans…The foundations of our nation are more enduring. Eternal ideals bind the indestructible unity of India.”Former Supreme Court judge Deepak Gupta told The Wire that celebrating a cricket victory over India is “definitely not sedition“. He said celebrating a Pakistani cricket team’s victory over India “may be offensive or unwise but it is not a crime, it is not illegal”.
