Ever since his release from jail
after he got bail from Delhi High Court, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar has given nearly 70 interviews
to different national and international media outlets.
At ScoopWhoop, we decided to do it differently.
We
invited questions from our readers that they wanted to ask the
student-leader-turned-youth icon Kanhaiya Kumar. From his idea of
student activism to his alleged misbehavior with a girl in JNU last
year, Kanhaiya spoke on a number of issues.
Here's how he replied to your questions
Did you always want to become a student politician or were you inspired to become one? (Asked by Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor)
You
can say that I formally joined politics when I was in college. Even
though I didn't understand politics at that time, but I knew it was
politics.
Watch the video of interview here
You asked, Kanhaiya Kumar answered. Here's our exclusive inter...Here's everything you wanted to ask Kanhaiya Kumar.Posted by ScoopWhoop News on Monday, March 14, 2016
I used to fight for issues like absence of
teachers from the class, raising questions on harassment of girls by
some blue-eyed boys and asking the principal about the lack of books in
the library.
Do you think what
you are doing is still student activism or you think you have reached a
level where you talk on national issues?
I
think this is student activism. I have an example of Bhagat Singh
before me who rose against British rule while being a student. His
resistance became an international issue at the time. Issues are always
connected.
Only youth and students in the
country have the strength to understand these issues and raise their
voices against it. And the raising of this voice is purely student
activism, irrespective of whether an issue is of a national or an
international one.
When you returned to the campus after you got bail you gave an electrifying speech. How do you do that?
JNU completes a building process of an individual. When you enter JNU, you get an introduction to the whole world.
JNUSU
President Kanhaiya Kumar addresses students after reaching at the JNU
campus upon his release on bail, in New Delhi | Source: PTI
This is the only campus where you get to
know about different international cultures, languages, religions,
identities, discourses and ideas. That widens an individual's thinking.
After that you assimilate content and then everybody presents it in
his/her own way.
But how do you practice? Isn't it rare to speak so articulately for 55 minutes?
JNU
witnesses protests every other day. I think it's the speciality of JNU,
rather than mine. Or you can say with the kind of backgrounds, families
and society we come from, it's not a mere fashion or political tactic
for us to speak on poverty and farmers.
I
am not a politician's son, whose speeches a poor farmer would not
relate with. I come from such a family that when I talk about the
soldiers of this country, poverty and farmers, people relate to me
because that is my reality.
When are you completing your Phd? (Asked by Nirahua Dehati)
I have some two to one-and-a-half-year period left in my research. I have to submit my thesis in 2018.
What are your views on Congress & BJP? (Asked by Nitin Jajoo)
The
issues on which Modi was elected to power, Congress was handling them
better than BJP. It was functioning as a welfare state. But this does
not mean that speaking in favour of the Congress makes me a Congress
supporter, or vice versa.
In a
certain sense you are talking about a revolution in terms of how our
thoughts need to be different. Do you think you can say the same thing
if you join a political party? (Asked by Richard Anderson)
I
am a student that's why I raise students' questions. When I'll become a
teacher, I'll raise the questions of teachers. And when I become a
politician, then I'll raise questions of the entire society. It's a
question of fixing responsibility. Currently, I am not a member of any
political outfit, which means my responsibility hasn't been fixed yet.
Modiji's vision is not to work for 125
crore people of this country. If that would have been the vision he
wouldn't have been talking of Hindu Rashtra.
So what do you think is Modi's vision?
Modiji's
vision is actually a vision of RSS. And RSS's vision is originally the
vision of Hitler's Germany. What was the vision of Hitler's Germany? It
was one nation, one party and one leader.
We
need to criticize this. This criticism is not due to some personal
animosity with Modi. Modi is the Prime Minister of the country and I am
asking him this question as a student.
What kind of politician is Modi? Is he a good politician?
What
I am saying is that if Modi would have been addressing all those issues
on which he was elected, I wouldn't be protesting against him.
If he would've deposited Rs 15 lakh in my account, I would have been shouting in his support. If daal was priced at Rs 20 per kilo, again I would have been shouting in support of him.
They
failed to deliver what they promised to do. This is why we are opposing
him. After knowing all of this, if anyone considers him a good Prime
Minister then that person is more a Modi bhakt than a citizen of this country.
How do you perceive Rahul Gandhi?
For
us, at this time, what matters is the serious threat for JNU. You can
see how attempts are being made at character assassination and also how
anti-women these attempts are.
There's no need to think of Rahul Gandhi at this time.
Do you think India is moving backwards with these kinds of thoughts?
People
say the rule of injustice doesn't stay for long, but for some time the
pace of society's growth stops. It does go backwards for some time.
Education has given us a chance to come out of this.
Why are they still calling you anti-national?
In law, the word of anti-national doesn't even exist.
In Hindi, word sedition means Raajdroh and what will be the opposite of that? Raj Bhakt (Nationalist). If they become Raj Bhakt then they won't gain in the elections. That's why they used the word Desh ka Gadaar (Traitor). Only then they can prove themselves as Desh Bhakt.
You are 29 and still doing Phd?
It's
not Bhagat Singh's time, when we were a colony. I want to say to all
those people who present this question, that this is not Bhagat Singh's
time that I would be executed at the age of 23.
The
fact that people have taken up a job at 22 doesn't mean I would also
take up one. Doing a Phd is also work. Research is also a job, this is
why we are given stipend.
Everybody has a separate job and role in a
society. You can't ask Lata Mangeshkar to play cricket and ask Sachin
Tendulkar to sing.
Those
who think the subsidy money is getting wasted, shouldn't rely on the
parameters of Modi Bhakti but on the results and system of National
Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). And that NAAC has defined
JNU as the best university. This means the subsidy money is being spent
at right place.
And where is it being
wrongly used? It's being wrongly used with people like Vijay Mallya, who
took the country's money and went to London.
What's the craziest theory you have heard about yourself during the current crisis?
First
was my twisted statements against army, according to which I had said
the Indian Army is a rapist. I am saying that I respect the army and
obviously a citizen of this country will never respect a rapist. I
hadn't even used the word army in my speech. I used the word security
personnel. There are different kinds of people in security.
Today,
there's another level of character assassination against me. It's being
said I had misbehaved with a girl. I am saying how can one misbehave
with a girl in JNU?
But weren't you fined Rs 3000 for that?
There
is a different context to that and it has been presented in a very
different manner. There are lot of questions about that like: there was
no hearing, no inquiry, there's also a question on the letter also.
Five people you are inspired by?
My Mother, Ambedkar, Gandhi, Nehru, PC Joshi, Jyotirao Phule & Bhagat Singh.
Internationally, Che and Gorky. And some few more people have started to inspire me during the last few weeks.
Did you get one of those 'Mera Yaar Kanhaiya' T-Shirts?
No I didn't. I am still waiting. For whom will I wear that?
Maybe for Umar and Anirban?
Yes, but the slogan will be something else. Like some people said when they heard that I got bail they started shouting "Jail ka taala toota hai, comrade Kanhaiya chootha hai", then they started "Kanhaiya to jhaanki hai, Umar Anirban baaki hai".
The kind of outpouring against your arrest was unmatched. Why don't we see it in the case of Umar and Anirban?
This
is the government's conspiracy. I have been saying it repeatedly. They
know students will return to normal after sometime. So they smartly use
delay tactics. Remember the kind of outpouring in the case of FTII
initially? It was huge but after six months, they brought back Gajendra
Chauhan.
This government is witch-hunting students.
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