Hyderabad: JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar narrowly escaped when a shoe was hurled at him while he was addressing a seminar here on Thursday.
The JNU student leader, who is on bail after being sent to jail, is here to express solidarity with the deceased Ph.D scholar Rohith Vemula’s mother, who launched a protest at the University of Hyderabad, was addressing at a seminar on “Constitutional Rights Protection” at Sundarayya Vignana Kendra.
Hundreds of students had come to hear the fire brand student leader, who had suddenly emerged as a student icon recently. He began to address the gathering in Hindi and expressed regrets for not speaking in Telugu. Even as he was speaking, there was commotion in the hall as anti-Kanhaiya slogans were raised from among the audience.
Suddenly a shoe came from the audience onto the dais from where Kanhaiah was addressing and it narrowly missed him. Recovering from the unforeseen development, the students belonging to the All India Students Federation tried to catch the miscreants.
There was a scuffle between the AISF students and anti-Kanhaiya sloganeers. The two persons, who allegedly disrupted the meeting, were later identified as Navin and Pawan Reddy of Goraksha Dal. Even as they were being beaten up by the agitated students, the camera stands of some TV crew were damaged. As utter chaos and confusion prevailed, police arrived and nabbed the two Goraksha Dal members and whisked them away from the spot.
Even as the students were engaged in manhandling the miscreants, Kanhaiaya Kumar appealed them to leave the miscreants, who must been stooges of forces that were hell bent to crush the students’ voice. The JNU president reiterated that any attempt to crush the students movement, being waged to protect democratic rights in the universities and educational institutions would only boomerang.
The JNU student leader said the movement launched by the students to uphold their constitutional rights in waging a war against casteist and divisive politics being played by powers that be cannot be crushed. He said the students’ struggle for enactment of Rohith Act would continue till it is enacted. While thanking the students of UoH, OU and other universities in Telangana and AP for extending their whole-hearted support, he called upon the student community to fight till the last to bring justice to students belonging to Dalit, weaker sections, minorities and other suppressed classes. (NSS)
Two Held For Hurling Shoe At Kanhaiya Kumar
