He was put in prison for 21 days.
He was beaten up by goons dressed as lawyers at the Patiala House court premises in New Delhi.
He was vehemently criticised by certain sections of the media over a video in which he was shown shouting anti-national slogans – it later turned out to be a doctored video.
Gold Rate
Wednesday 12 March 2025
Despite all of this, Kanhaiya Kumar spoke his mind, without hesitation – he spoke out against the Narendra Modi government, BJP, RSS, ABVP, the Delhi Police and the hooligans who attacked him. Kanhaiya’s speech at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday night was both powerful and witty.
If there is one word that can be used to describe the JNUSU president, it is ‘fearless’.
Through his words, the beleaguered but brave JNU student told all his critics that he will not be scared or intimidated by hooliganism, false propaganda or frenzied media trials. “We are not asking for freedom from India. We are asking for freedom in India,” he thundered.
This statement is especially important because it came on the same day that a Delhi government-appointed magisterial probe concluded that Kanhaiya had not raised anti-India slogans at the controversial event in JNU. According to the probe report, anti-national slogans were shouted at the campus and JNU administration has already identified a “few faces” who were “clearly” heard raising them, PTI had reported. The probe panel had said that their whereabouts must be located and their role must be investigated.
However, the same report had also said that “nothing adverse” could be found against Kanhaiya and that no witness or video was available to support allegations against the JNUSU president.
And in his speech, Kanhaiya made amply clear what his fight was actually about. “Whether it is the person working in the field, whether it is the person fighting for us in the army, or whether it is the person fighting for freedom in JNU, we will not stop fighting for them,” he said.
“We fight for equality. So that a peon’s son and the President of India’s son can study in an equal environment,” said Kanhaiya, “We are asking for freedom from poverty and social oppression. And we will get that freedom through this institution. This was also Rohith’s dream.”
Of course, it is a different debate altogether whether Kanhaiya actually meant those words. We would like to believe he did, but such conclusions cannot be drawn from a single speech.
The conclusion that can be drawn, however, is that Kanhaiya was trying to tell the people that the alternative to the NDA government need not necessarily come from the Congress or AAP. He was trying to tell the people that it can come from a section that claims to fight for the poor, the downtrodden and the backward minorities.
“We will help establish a government which truly works for ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’,” Kanhaiya said in his speech.
He was put in prison for 21 days.
He was beaten up by goons dressed as lawyers at the Patiala House court premises in New Delhi.
He was vehemently criticised by certain sections of the media over a video in which he was shown shouting anti-national slogans – it later turned out to be a doctored video.
Despite all of this, Kanhaiya Kumar spoke his mind, without hesitation – he spoke out against the Narendra Modi government, BJP, RSS, ABVP, the Delhi Police and the hooligans who attacked him. Kanhaiya’s speech at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Thursday night was both powerful and witty.
If there is one word that can be used to describe the JNUSU president, it is ‘fearless’.
Through his words, the beleaguered but brave JNU student told all his critics that he will not be scared or intimidated by hooliganism, false propaganda or frenzied media trials. “We are not asking for freedom from India. We are asking for freedom in India,” he thundered.
This statement is especially important because it came on the same day that a Delhi government-appointed magisterial probe concluded that Kanhaiya had not raised anti-India slogans at the controversial event in JNU. According to the probe report, anti-national slogans were shouted at the campus and JNU administration has already identified a “few faces” who were “clearly” heard raising them, PTI had reported. The probe panel had said that their whereabouts must be located and their role must be investigated.
However, the same report had also said that “nothing adverse” could be found against Kanhaiya and that no witness or video was available to support allegations against the JNUSU president.
And in his speech, Kanhaiya made amply clear what his fight was actually about. “Whether it is the person working in the field, whether it is the person fighting for us in the army, or whether it is the person fighting for freedom in JNU, we will not stop fighting for them,” he said.
“We fight for equality. So that a peon’s son and the President of India’s son can study in an equal environment,” said Kanhaiya, “We are asking for freedom from poverty and social oppression. And we will get that freedom through this institution. This was also Rohith’s dream.”
Of course, it is a different debate altogether whether Kanhaiya actually meant those words. We would like to believe he did, but such conclusions cannot be drawn from a single speech.
The conclusion that can be drawn, however, is that Kanhaiya was trying to tell the people that the alternative to the NDA government need not necessarily come from the Congress or AAP. He was trying to tell the people that it can come from a section that claims to fight for the poor, the downtrodden and the backward minorities.
“We will help establish a government which truly works for ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’,” Kanhaiya said in his speech.
