The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. With 10 people dead in the Jat agitation, the Haryana government on Sunday said it would pass a bill on a quota for the community in the next Assembly session.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi insisted that Non Governmental Organisations were conspiring to defame him and bring down his government.
3. Sedition-accused Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid resurfaced on campus on Sunday night, with the police waiting outside to arrest him.

The Big Story: Genuine JNU
The absconding students of Jawaharlal Nehru University returned to campus late on Sunday night. Ten days after the Delhi Police began looking for them to book them for allegedly shouting anti-national slogans, some of the students showed up in front of the administration block and began delivering speeches. The students are accused of sedition in connection with events on February 9 and 11, when anti-national slogans were allegedly raised on campus, although there is little clarity yet of who said what.

The university administration said it would not permit the Delhi Police to come on to campus last night, after earlier having permitted the authorities to storm into JNU and pick up the student union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who has also been accused of sedition. Though the students said they were ready to surrender, this time it seemed as if the administration and the lawyers working with the students had put together a plan to turn up and build support on campus rather than be quietly picked up like criminals. It bears repeating: At worst, these students have been accused of raising slogans – not looting armories or shooting at people.

The standoff, with Delhi Police waiting at the JNU gates, cannot last forever. , It seems only a matter of time before the students will be arrested. How this plays out is crucial. Delhi Police performed terribly last week, unable to prevent attacks on journalists and Kumar inside a court complex while leaks from the Home Ministry suggested it had overreacted in arresting the JNUSU president.

The police will first have to ensure the safety of all the accused at a time when goons seem to be baying for their blood. But the bigger question of the Delhi Police's living up to its duty remains in its investigation of the case: With crucial evidence turning out to be doctored, can we trust the police to genuinely appraise the nature of the charges against the students?

The Big Scroll on the day's top story
"My conscience has started to revolt": A Zee News producer quits over channel’s handling of JNU row. Why the attack on JNU and the arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar is (and is not) like the Emergency, Gyan Prakash writes. The JNU fracas is actually a crisis for the Right, says Abhijnan Rej. Also watch Kamla Bhasin's delightful poem, Azaadi.

Policying & Politicking
1. With expectations that the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament will be stormy, senior politicians have been attempting to urge actual discussion rather than disruption.
2. A JNU professor has been attacked by protesters from the Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing in Gwalior.
3. The Aam Aadmi Party shifted tribal rights leader Soni Sori to Delhi after she was attacked in Chhattisgarh with hot grease, although the local administration have refused to call it an attack.
4. Ten members of Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu resigned on Sunday, and are expected to join the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
5. At least 10 Indian sailors were rescued from pirates in the Ivory Coast, with one more Indian and a Pakistani crew member still captive.

Punditry
1. Ajay Shah in the Business Standard issues a call to arms for reforms.
2. Anil Padmanabhan in Mint asks why political parties are engaging in cynical combat and endangering the prospects of India's economy.
3. Chitra Padmanabhan in the Wire speaks to NDTV's Ravish Kumar about the dark world of television.

Don't Miss
Supriya Sharma explains why the Chhattisgarh Police is afraid of Soni Sori, who was recently attacked.

The black taint might not leave permanent scars. It might not even scare Sori, who has endured worse. But it might still serve its purpose of silencing others who dare question the police.