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This Journalist Wants Arrested JNU Students To Be Given The 'Joy Of Rape'

This Journalist Wants Arrested JNU Students To Be Given The 'Joy Of Rape'
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Update: This story has been updated to remove the reference to Anil Dikshit as a Dainik Jagran journalist. His social media profiles have now been updated to remove this claim as well.

At a time when the media’s role has come under scrutiny for inciting passions in the JNU row, a journalist with in Agra has asked for arrested JNU students to be raped in jail. The journalist, Anil Dikshit, however, says that it was not his post and he has removed it.

The post said that JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were born out of the “black womb” of communism and that when they are presented in court, they too should be beaten up by lawyers the way Kanhaiya Kumar was. The post went on to say that these two boys could be of use to other prisoners for “many nights”. Dikshit claims that the Nirbhaya rapists were repeatedly raped in Tihar jail by other prisoners who wanted to show them the “joy of rape” (balatkaar ka mazaa). This is how, Dikshit wrote, these students will learn that an Afzal Guru can’t be born in every house just like that.

Screenshot of the post.

Speak on phone from Agra, Dikshit first said, “Have you read the post? Read it carefully?" Then claimed that he never wrote it. “Someone shared it on my wall but I have removed it.

Asked if he agreed with its contents, he said that lawyers beating up 'anti-national' elements in court may be illegal but it is justified given the anguish they have caused. On rape, however, he said he did not agree with the post.

Dikshit seems to have removed the post after it went viral on the internet, picked up with websites like Truth of Gujarat and Media Vigil.

Some journalists have begun a signature campaign demanding that Dainik Jagran take action against Dikshit, whose Facebook page describes him as a 'deputy news editor'. However, journalists in Agra said that Dikshit was with Jagran a long time ago and is no more employed with the paper. Dikshit himself said he had resigned a while ago.

Posters put up by students protesting the JNU arrests.

A signature campaign currently underway is seeking to appeal the management of Dainik Jagran to treat the Facebook post as incitement to violence and rape and take appropriate action.

“It is precisely this ideology, that treats sexual assault as a way to 'teach someone a lesson', or 'put them in their place' that perpetuates rape culture, and makes it possible for rapists across the land to practise violence with complete impunity. We… demand that the management of Dainik Jagran treat this incitement to violence and rape by their Deputy Editor as a serious offence, and against the laws of the land," the letter reads.

After resurfacing on campus, Umar Khalid had denied making any anti-national slogans or speeches at the meet on 9 February, which was called to protest the third anniversary of Afzal Guru’s hanging. Khalid And Bhattacharya, like JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, have been charged with sedition and criminal conspiracy.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.