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Kanhaiya Kumar is a leader of the All India Student Federation (AISF), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He was elected president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union in 2015. In February 2016, he was arrested and charged with sedition along with Umar Khalid on the charges of raising anti India slogans in a student rally against the 2013 hanging of Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri separatist convicted over the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.

Early life and political career

Kanhaiya Kumar was born and brought up in the village of Bihar in Begusarai district, in Bihar, India. This village is part of the Teghra legislative assembly constituency, known to be a stronghold of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Kumar’s father, Jaishankar Singh, suffers from paralysis and has been bedridden for a few years. His mother, Meena Devi, is an Anganwadi worker. He has an elder brother who works in the private sector. His family members have traditionally been supporters of the CPI.

Kanhaiya Kumar studied in RKC High School in Barauni, an industrial town in Bihar. During his school days, Kumar took part in several plays and activities organized by IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association), a left-leaning cultural group going back to the days of India’s freedom struggle. After graduating from school in 2002, he moved to Patna and joined the College of Commerce, where he began his involvement in student politics. He joined the AISF and a year later was selected as a delegate at its conference in Patna. After completing his post graduation, Kanhaiya Kumar moved to Delhi and joined JNU where he is currently pursuing a PhD in African studies at the School of International Studies. In 2015 September, Kanhaiya Kumar became the first AISF member to become president of the JNU students’ union, defeating the AISA (All India Students Association), ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), SFI (Students' Federation of India) and NSUI (National Students' Union of India) candidates. Kumar's friends and spectators describe him as a great orator. A speech he made the night before his election is credited as the reason for his victory.

2016 sedition controversy

On 12 February 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested by the Delhi police. A case was registered against him on Feb 13, under Indian Penal Code Sections 124-A (sedition) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). He was charged over an event organised by some students at the Jawaharlal Nehru university campus against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, following complaints by Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Maheish Girri and the ABVP. Kanhaiya Kumar denied the charges and said that he was neither shouting any slogan nor saying anything against integrity of the country. He said in an interview that "I dissociate myself from the slogans which were shouted in the event. I have full faith in the Constitution of the country and I always say that Kashmir is an integral part of India”. During his interrogation Kanhaiya insisted that he did not say anything that was seditious.

Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest soon snowballed into a major political controversy and has drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties, teachers, students and academics. Students at Jawaharlal Nehru University went on strike over Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest, effectively paralysing the University.

Kanhaiya Kumar's parents stated that their son was being victimized for his opposition to Hindutva politics. When Kumar was brought to the Patiala House court on February 15, 2016, JNU students and professors, as well as journalists, were attacked by a group of lawyers. BJP MLA O.P. Sharma was also involved in the assault, although he later denied the charge. On 17 February, Kumar was once again assaulted by some lawyers inside the Patiala House court. On February 22, 2016, India Today broadcast a video in which three lawyers of the Patiala House court claimed that they had beaten Kanhaiya Kumar while the latter was in police custody. A six member Supreme Court-appointed panel later confirmed that the policemen present at the Court were responsible for the security lapses, and further stating that police allowed 2 persons to enter the court room, and continued to let the assault take place, in direct violation of the SC direction on Kanhaiya's safety.

On 2 March 2016, Kumar was granted bail by the Delhi High Court, conditional on a 10,000 rupee bail bond and an undertaking that he would not "participate in any anti-national activity."

On 3 March 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar gave a speech to a packed auditorium in the JNU campus, during which he said he was seeking, not freedom from India, but freedom within India. He appealed to his fellow students to free the nation from the clutches of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which he said was trying to divide the nation. Referring to the ABVP, whose members were instrumental in bringing about his arrest, he called them his "opposition", not his enemy. He urged his supporters to keep raising the slogans of azaadi (freedom).

See also

• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir

References

1. "#SeditionDebate: Everything you need to know about Umar Khalid, the man they're calling 'Kashmiri traitor'". Firstpost. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
2. "Why an Indian student has been arrested for sedition". BBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
3. Anuja. "JNU row: Who is Kanhaiya Kumar?". livemint.com.
4. "JNU row: How Kanhaiya Kumar became president of JNU Students' Union". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
5. "JNU row: How Kanhaiya Kumar became President of JNU's students union". dna. 15 February 2016.
6. "10 Lesser Known Facts about Kanhaiya Kumar – The JNUSU President!". Retrieved 18 February 2016.
7. "Exclusive: JNUSU chief Kanhaiya Kumar's interrogation report accessed".
8. Jason Burke. "Protests to continue at Indian university after student leader's arrest". the Guardian.
9. "JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar 'victim of Hindutva politics' say parents". Hindustan Times.
10. "Sedition case against JNUSU president: Lawyers, BJP MLA take law in their fists". The Indian Express. 16 February 2016.
11. "Lawyers attack arrested JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in Patiala House court complex". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
12. Mathur, Avarnita (22 February 2016). "EXCLUSIVE: Kanhaiya wet his pants while we beat him up in police custody, say lawyers behind Patiala House assault". India today. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
13. "JNU sedition case: Video is out; Kanhaiya Kumar assaulted, breaks down, police duck for cover". The Indian Express. 28 February 2016.
14. Mathur, Aneesha (2 March 2016). "JNU row: Kanhaiya Kumar gets 6-month interim bail by Delhi HC - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/kanhaiya-kumar-bail-jnu-delhi-high-court/#sthash.awHRRtAu.dpuf". Indian Express. Retrieved 2 March 2016. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help)
15. JNUSU leader Kanhaiya Kumar gives blistering speech after release, The Hindu, 3 March 2016.
16. Full Speech: Kanhaiya Kumar, Out On Bail, Speaks Of 'Azadi' On JNU Campus, NDTV, 3 March 2016.
17. 'Azaadi, azaadi': Kanhaiya Kumar gives fiery speech mocking Modi govt, Sangh Parivar at JNU campus, DNA India, 3 March 2016.

External links

• Text of Kanhaiya Kumar's speech at JNU, Hindustan Times, 17 February 2016.

1. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnusu-leader-kanhaiya-kumar-speech-after-release/article8310221.ece

• Student politics in India
• People from Begusarai
• Jawaharlal Nehru University