SRINAGAR: Both factions of Hurriyat Conference today condemned the arrest of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar in connection with an event on the campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying the action is "undemocratic".
"The police action on the (JNU) students was undemocratic," moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in a statement here.
Terming the police reaction "uncalled-for", Mirwaiz, who is in Delhi, claimed the organisers were in no way involved in any "illegal activity".
Kanhaiya was arrested this afternoon after police had picked him up for questioning, a day after a case was registered against "unknown persons" yesterday under Section of 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC at Vasant Kunj (North) Police station following complaints by BJP MP Mahesh Girri and the party's student wing ABVP.
A group of students on Tuesday held an event on the JNU campus and allegedly shouted slogans against the hanging of Guru in 2013.
In a separate statement, hardline Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani also condemned the arrest of Kanhaiya and registration of a sedition case against students and Prof S A R Geelani.