Let the courts decide what is ‘deshdroh’ and ‘deshbhakti’, says Kanhaiya Kumar in electrifying speech

Watch Video | Kanhaiya Kumar Speech At JNU Campus

“They said I raised slogans about freedom. They asked me why I wanted freedom from India. But I want to set this straight. I do not want freedom from India, but freedom in India,” Kumar told a gathering, mostly of students, who cheered — and hung on to — almost every line.

WATCH VIDEO: Kanhaiya Kumar’s Speech At JNU Campus After Release

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Referring to Modi’s speech in Parliament earlier in the day, Kumar said, “Modiji was talking about Stalin and Khrushchev in Parliament. When I heard him speaking I felt like jumping into the TV screen, grabbing his suit and saying — ‘Modiji, please speak about Hitler a little’. Forget about Hitler, talk about Mussolini whose black cap you wear, who (RSS founder M S) Golwalkar sahab went to meet.”

“We will fight for Umar (Khalid) and Anirban (Bhattacharya). Let the courts decide what is ‘deshdroh’ (anti-national) and what is ‘deshbhakti’ (patriotism), Madam Smriti Irani will not decide this because we are not her children,” he said, referring to the two other JNU students who were arrested.

Watch Video | Kanhaiya Released From Tihar Jail: What The Delhi Govt-Appointed Magisterial Probe Said

Kumar even latched on to Modi’s post on Twitter, after Irani’s reply to the discussion on the death of Hyderabad student Rohith Vemula and the JNU sedition row. “Modiji tweeted Satyamev Jayate. I also say ‘PMji, I have huge differences in opinion with you, but Satyamev Jayate is from the Constitution. Today, I also say to you Satyamev Jayate’.”

Taking a dig at Modi’s radio address, he said, “The PM talks about Mann ki Baat but does not listen.”
Prepared with answers for his critics, the student leader said, “They were saying on one side soldiers are dying. I want to salute them for their service. A BJP MP in parliament said that ‘jawans are dying on the border’. I want to ask you. Is your brother there? In this country, the crores of farmers who are dying.

The ones who grow wheat for us and the soldiers. What do you say to them? The farmers who work in the fields, my father. My brother is in the army, and he dies there. Do not try to separate the constable, the farmer, the soldier, poor people like me, by creating distorted binaries. I salute the soldiers but have you ever thought of their families, the families of farmers who are forced to commit suicide?”

Kumar also thanked all those who stood by him when he was in jail and reiterated that he believed in the Constitution and the judiciary. “I will harbour no ill feelings towards anyone and won’t indulge in witch-hunting the ABVP,” he said.

Kumar said he spoke to his mother after three months today. “I told my mother that she took a nice dig at Modiji. But my mother said she was not taking a dig at him, she was only expressing her pain. Those who understand that pain, cry, and those who do not understand, laugh,” he said.

On the day a Delhi government report stated three videos that showed Kumar and other JNU students allegedly raising “anti-national” slogans were fake, Kumar said, “If you speak against this anti-people government, then their cyber-cell will send doctored videos, they will abuse you and count how many condoms there are in your dustbin.”

As Kumar spoke, approval poured in on social media. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “What a brilliant speech by Kanhaiya…” CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “Lal salaam comrade Kanhaiya. Free India’s hopes rest on your shoulders.”

Kumar also used the BJP’s voteshare in the 2014 general elections to buttress his argument. “69 per cent of the country do not believe in your ideology. Even the 31 per cent who voted for you were fooled by your jumla. We Indians forget easily but we still remember all the ‘Jumla’ used during election campaign,” he said.

Kumar, a PhD scholar at the Centre for African Studies, sought to converge the movement against Rohith’s death and charges of sedition against JNU students. “All this was planned. All this was planned to derail the movement seeking justice for Rohith Vemula and Occupy UGC (the recent agitation against the proposed scrapping of PhD fellowships). I have not said this before, but my family earns Rs 3,000 a month. Without JNU, I would not be able to do a PhD,” Kumar said.

As he wound down, Kumar circled back to where it all started — the speech for “azadi”. He urged students raise the slogans of ‘azadi’ again, but with context. “…for all the country to hear that we do not want freedom from India, but from those looting the nation… hum kya chahtein hai…brashtachar se…bhookmari se….hum lekar rehenge…tum kuch bhi kar lo. (What do we want…from corruption…from starvation…we will get it…you do what you will).”

And they cried, with arms raised with him, “Azadi.”