SEDITION charges against three leading Indian communists over recent student protests have been condemned by their Pakistani comrades.

Nine senior opposition leaders were charged on Sunday over recent protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi.

Among them were Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary D Raja and JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya.

Congress party leaders including vice-president Rahul Gandhi, parliamentary upper house deputy opposition leader Anand Sharma and Delhi state president Ajay Maken were also charged, along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Mr Kanhaiya — also the national leader of the CPI’s student wing, the five-million-strong All India Students Federation (AISF) — was already on trial for sedition following his address to a February 12 rally in protest at the execution of Kashmiri separatist Mohammad Afzal Guru three days earlier.

The student wing of the ruling Hindu chauvinist BJP party alleged that unpatriotic slogans had been shouted by demonstrators, leading to the arrest of Mr Kumar and university research student Umar Khalid.

On Sunday a New Delhi court issued a first information report, ordering a police investigation, after a complaint by lawyer Janardhan Goud.

The named opposition figures had visited the JNU campus in support of the two accused student leaders, which Mr Goud claimed “amounted to sedition.”

Mr Kejriwal said the offending slogans had been shouted by Kashmiris, but that they were not charged because BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi feared angering his coalition partner, the separatist Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, Mr Kumar was released on 10,000 rupee (£106) bail and and a pledge not to “participate in any anti-national activity.”

Communist Party of Pakistan leader Imdad Qazi condemned the persecution of Indian democrats.

“Throughout the world, governments representing fascist and exploitative forces have filed similar false charges against pro-people and revolutionary figures,” he noted.

Mr Qazi warned that the BJP’s actions were undermining the secular foundations of India and would lead to its fragmentation. “What greater treason against India can there be?” he asked.