A group of students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi allegedly raised controversial slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah on campus Monday night, hours after the Supreme Court denied bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case.

A purported video that has emerged of the protest shows slogans condemning Modi and Shah raised during the demonstration. The slogans were reportedly raised near Sabarmati Hostel between 9pm and 10pm.

According to an NDTV report, Danish, joint secretary of the Left-backed JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU), and Sunil, its secretary, were present at the spot when the sloganeering took place, along with members of other Left-affiliated student groups.

One of the slogans heard in the video was: “Modi-Shah ki kabar khudegi, JNU ki dharti par.” The development comes nearly a decade after pro-terror and anti-India slogans raised on the JNU campus had triggered a nationwide controversy.

Reacting to the incident, JNUSU president Aditi Mishra said the protest was part of an annual event to condemn the violence that occurred on the campus on January 5, 2020.

"All of the slogans raised in the protest were ideological and do not attack anyone personally. They were not directed towards anyone," Mishra told PTI.

A senior police officer told the news agency that no complaint had been received so far in connection with the slogans.

Union minister Giriraj Singh strongly criticised the incident, linking it to what he described as anti-national elements within the campus.

"Some people have made JNU a den of tukde tukde gang,” he told PTI. “People like Rahul Gandhi, TMC, Communists are part of this gang... these people don't believe in Supreme Court. Slogans being raised in favour of Khalid Ansari and Sharjeel Imam and in against PM Modi, Amit Shah. Such people should be tried for treason. People who have a Pakistan mentality, those who talk about cutting of 'chicken’s neck' ... people of India will never tolerate these people.”

The ABVP, the Sangh’s student unit, also condemned the sloganeering. Manish Choudhary, ABVP vice president of the JNU unit, claimed such incidents had become frequent on campus.

"Yesterday, there were slogans of 'ABVP-RSS ki kabar khudegi' raised in JNU. Such sloganeering at JNU is common now. ABVP-RSS have over crores of workers. Are they talking about digging graves for crores of workers? We also saw that the mayor of New York wrote a letter to a 'terrorist' that he should be released... We welcome the order of the Supreme Court rejecting the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam..." Choudhary told ANI.

BJP leader and Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also reacted sharply.

"They have no link with this country. They are people who want to break up India, they speak ill of the prime minister," Sirsa said, asking what remained to be said if people started protesting against Supreme Court judgments.

The slogans were raised after the Supreme Court rejected the bail pleas of Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, who have been in jail for over five years in connection with a “larger conspiracy” case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots.

A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Prasanna B Varale said the prosecution material disclosed a prima facie case against the two, attracting the statutory bar to bail under Section 43D(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The court said the available material did not justify granting them bail and indicated their involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and issuance of strategic directions. At the same time, the bench granted bail to five other accused — Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed — noting differences in the “hierarchy of participation”.

"Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused," the bench said, adding that "the hierarchy of participation requires the court to assess each application individually."

The January 5, 2020, violence referenced by the JNUSU president saw masked assailants storm the JNU campus, targeting students in three hostels and vandalising property. At least 28 people, including then JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, were injured. Delhi police had faced criticism at the time for alleged inaction and for naming student union leaders in FIRs related to the incident.