"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.
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.