Sandipan Sharma: Kanhaiya's defiant return from jail is proof of humankind's indomitable spirit
NB: The RSS-led Modi government's vicious attack on JNU has backfired upon it. In the face of violence by 'patriotic' hooligans linked to the BJP, unscrupulous news-coverage by hysterical news-anchors who think nothing of slandering dissident students on national TV, in the face of a hate-filled campaign and open instigations of violence by front organisations of the so-called 'Parivar', the JNUSU president obtained bail and returned to his campus. He was sustained by the support of thousands of well-wishers, in India and abroad.
Kanhaiya's rousing and optimistic speech marks a turning point in the struggle to build a nation-wide anti-fascist coalition. He exposed the governments shameless efforts win elections by instigating communal hatred. He declared that India's young people will fight for their constitutional rights and for the preservation of democracy. The RSS effort to create a situation of permanent civil war will meet its opposition in a counter campaign for social democracy. Bravo Kanhaiya. Keep it up. I salute all of you - Dilip
See/hear Kanhaiya Kumar's defiant speech
Why Kanhaiya Kumar's Speech Is International News
A rough, literal translation of the JNU student union president's speech
A rough, literal translation of the JNU student union president's speech
Sandipan Sharma:
Satyamev Jayate. A young man whose
family survives on just Rs 3000 from an anganvadi, his father is confined to a
wheelchair, brother makes a living doing odd jobs and his own life depends on
the grant he gets as a scholar.
The state throws its full might at him, an obsequious media runs a campaign to brand him an anti-national by doctoring tapes, by putting words in the mouths of camera puppets; thugs in black coats beat him to pulp, cops take him to the brink of ruin, politicians connive to destroy him and the entire system keeps him jail. Yet, they fail to silence him, break his resolve or subjugate his spirit.
Do we still need
further proof of the indomitable spirit of humankind?
Kanhaiya Kumar's
decision to remain defiant in distress, fight when surrender seems the
pragmatic way out, roar when the system wants him to beg, crawl and squeak,
tells us that the future of India is in safe hands. That almost all of
Jawaharlal Nehru University turned out to welcome him like a hero back from a
war, chorus its approval of his demand for azaadi--not from India, but within
India--proves conclusively that those who want to replace the core values of
India with their perverse political agendas will have to do much more than they
did to Kanhaiya to succeed.
When he spoke--
extempore, for almost an hour, without rancour, amidst laughter, slogans and
claps--Kanhaiya sounded like a scholar back from a study trip, sharing his
learnings and recounting his experience. But, in spite of his infectious,
optimistic joie de vivre, the symbolism of Kanhaiya's defiance is immense. Hear
it in his words.
"Ae mere dost
main tumhara (ABVP) witch-hunting nahi karunga. Kyunki shikaar uska kia jaata
hai jo shikaar karne laayak ho." (To my friends from the ABVP, I will
not indulge in witch-hunting against you. One only targets those who are worth
targeting.)
"Iss desh mein
jan-virodhi sarkar hai. Uss sarkar ke khilaaf bolenge to inka cyber cell
doctored video dikhayega.(The government of this country is anti-people. If
you speak against it, the cyber cell will come up with doctored videos.)...And
they will count how many condoms are there in your dustbin."
"Hum bole, jo
farzi tweet pe statement de raha hai, hum uss se azaadi chahte
hain." (I had said
that we seek freedom from those who make statements on the basis of fake
tweets.)
Combine the three
statements. What message do you get? That the establishment can stoop to any
absurdity to silence its critics but its rebellious victims will not act out of
rancour or hatred, or wreak vengeance on undeserving opponents.
"Iss desh ke
69 per cent logon ne uss maansikta ke khilaaf vote diya hai. Keval 31 per cent
log. Aur usme se bhi kuch aapki jumlebaazi mein fass gaye." (Sixty-nine percent of the people of this
country voted against this ideology. There were only 31 percent people...And
among those, there were those who fell for false slogans."
"Kuch ko to
aapne 'Har Har' keh ke thug lia, woh aaj kal 'Arhar' se pareshaan
hain." (You misled
some with 'har har'(religion), the same people are now worried
about 'arhar' (price rise of pulses).
Even Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels would have struggled to find better words in India to argue
that proletarians of the world should unite because they outnumber their rivals
by a huge margin and have nothing to lose but the oppressive government. And
that their numbers may be growing because some of those who got misled by
pre-poll slogans may themselves be repenting their choice.
Beware, Kanhaiya is
echoing the sound of India.
On Wednesday, for
almost an hour after news of interim bail to Kanhaiya Kumar broke, a few TV
channels completely ignored it. No live coverage, no breaking news, no
information and discussion on what the nation may have wanted to know; not even
a ticker, just a stunned silence.
Like surly kids who
had lost a game, they retreated into a corner, sulking in full view of the
audience. Pigeons burying their heads in the quicksand of shame would have done
better.
When he was released
from Tihar a day later, students of JNU marched
in solidarity with him. Kanhaiya returned to a hero's welcome. He gave a
rousing speech, demanding azaadi, among other things, perhaps also from sore
losers. Guess, who were not be
present to witness the triumph of the students, listen to their laughter, quake
with their thundering claps?
Writing for The Wire, Siddharth Bhatia says,
in hindsight, the manner in which the episode unfolded suggests that things
worked to a plan. "Every component occurred swiftly — from the slogans
allegedly raised by the students, to the grainy videos, to the expert
doctoring, and the conviction with which the BJP’s spokepersons showed them and
the statements by ministers. The Delhi police, which otherwise takes its time
filing an FIR, was at its efficient best in effecting the arrest but at its
usual sluggishness when it came to stopping the assault on Kumar and
journalists. The less said about the shameful role of certain sections of the
media, the better." That Kanhaiya is back,
that JNU is once again resonating with chants of azaadi proves like always:
Satyamev Jayate.
