A tangled skein

A meme featuring the just-retired Delhi Police Commissioner, B S Bassi, is doing the rounds on social media these days. It shows him saying, "We are probing Kanhaiya Kumar's role in World War II." The sedition case against Jawaharlal Nehru University student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya has taken many a bizarre turn. After purportedly doctored videos were circulated showing Kumar praising Afzal Guru - executed for his role in the 2001 Parliament terrorist attack - a case of contempt was lodged against Kumar. But the Supreme Court declined to hear the plea seeking criminal contempt proceedings against him and five others on Monday. While hearing Kumar's bail plea on the same day, the Delhi High Court is said to have asked the police whether they had any idea what sedition was.