Left parties 'bandh' hits normal life in Kanhaiya's home district

Patna, Feb 23  A 'bandh' (shutdown) called on Tuesday by the Left parties in Begusarai district of Bihar in support of JNU Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar affected normal life.

Hundreds of Left parties leaders and workers took to the streets in the district, blocked roads at several places and disrupted train traffic at railway stations, demanding release of Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested in Delhi on charges of sedition.

"The bandh evoked a good response as normal life was badly hit," a district official said. 

Kanhaiya Kumar hails from Begusarai. He was arrested on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy on February 12 after an event held on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in Delhi against the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. 

Most of the shops, markets, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed.

According to reports reaching here, residents of Kanhaiya's native village, Bihat, joined the strike and demanded his release.

In Patna, Left parties took out a protest march demanding the release of Kanhaiya Kumar and withdrawal of sedition charges against other students of JNU.

CPI(M) leader Arun Mushra said here that Left parties also staged protest marches at all the district headquarters against the "attack on educational institutions by Hinduvta forces led by RSS, BJP and ABVP".

"Hinduvta forces have a single point programme to target Left parties' students in different campuses; JNU is the latest target," he said.