New Delhi: Slogans of “RSS se azaadi, bhookhmari, jaativaad se azaadi,” and “Lal salam, lal salam” reverberated across the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus as its students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar led a scathing attack against the BJP-led Centre here on Thursday evening.
Kanhaiya, who was released today evening after being granted a six month interim bail by the Delhi High Court, began his address to the students of the varsity by thanking all those who stood in support of JNU and PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, whose suicide has stirred a political storm in the country.
“The attack on the JNU is a planned attack. This attack is to de-legitimise the UGC protest and to prevent justice to Rohith Vemula. The fight which was initiated by Rohith Vemula, all of you and peace-loving people in the country, will be pursued by us and we’ll win this battle,” he said.
“I would like to thank everyone at the JNU. All the people , whether media, political people, non civil society , who stood for saving JNU and those who want justice for Rohith Vemula, I want to salute them,” he added.
In a sarcastic tone, he said, “I want to thank the people sitting in Parliament deciding wrong and right, the police and those few media channels.”
He appealed to his fellow students to join hands to free the nation from the clutches of the RSS, which is trying to divide the nation.
Asserting his belief in democracy and the Constitution, he said that whenever the ruling government has tried to exploit the people of this country, JNU has raised its voice against the oppression.
“Let me just say it is not easy to get admission in JNU neither it is easy to silence those in JNU said. We don’t look at the ABVP as an enemy. In fact we look at them like the Opposition. I will never do the witch-hunting of the ABVP because we believe that only those are hunted who are worthy of being hunted,” he said.
Kanhaiya also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he has many differences with the latter but he agrees with his tweet-Satyameva Jayate.
“The present ruling dispensation at the Centre is anti-people. If you will speak against them, its cyber cell would come out with doctored video and charge you with sedition,” he added.
Asserting that there was a difference in ‘freedom from nation and freedom within the nation’, the JNUSU president said that students at the varsity have always stood for freedom from extremism and fundamentalism.
“Bharat se nhi mere bhaiyon, Bharat mein azaadi maang rhe hain. ‘Se’ aur ‘Mein’ mein fark hota hai. Bharat se nhi, Bharat ko lootne walon se Azaadi chaahte hain,” he said.
Ending his hour-long address at the varsity, he urged his supporters to keep raising slogans of ‘Azaadi’. (ANI)