Here’s What JNU’s Kanhaiya Kumar Actually Said on 9 February

Excerpts from JNU President Kanhaiya Kumar’s speech, made before he was arrested for sedition.

Kanhaiya Kumar head of JNU’s Student Union. (Photo: PTI)

JNU Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition last week, in a case that has triggered the biggest nationwide protests by students in the country in more than two decades.

His infamous speech that led to his arrest has been published by The Indian Express. Here are some excerpts:

Kumar starts his speech by criticising the RSS, saying they do not need the right-wing party’s definition of patriotism.

They are the people who burn the tricolour; they are the stooges of Savarkar, who apologised to the British. They are the people who, right now, in Haryana, run the Khattar government that has renamed after a Sanghi an airport named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. The upshot is, we don’t need a certificate of patriotism from the RSS. We don’t need the RSS to certify us as nationalists. We are of this country and love the soil of India. We fight for those 80 percent of this country’s people who are poor. For us, this is desh bhakti.

He goes on to express faith in the Constitution adding everyone wanted to have their basic rights.

We have full faith in Babasaheb. We have full faith in our country’s Constitution. And we want to firmly assert that if anyone lifts a finger against this country’s Constitution — whether the Sanghis or anyone else — we won’t tolerate it. We have faith in the Constitution. But we have no faith in the constitution that is taught at Jhandelwala and Nagpur. We have no faith in the Manusmriti. We have no faith in or trust in the deep-rooted caste system in this country.That very Constitution, that same Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, talked about constitutional remedies in the Constitution. That same Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar talked about abolishing capital punishment. That same Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar talked of freedom of expression. We uphold the Constitution. We want to uphold our basic right, our constitutional right.

A student holds a placard demanding the release of Kanhaiya Kumar. (Photo: AP)

Kumar also lashed out at the ABVP in the speech for “orchestrating a campaign” and “diluting issues”.

But it is a matter of great shame, a matter of great sorrow, that today, the ABVP, with its media partners, is orchestrating a campaign. It is diluting issues. Yesterday, the ABVP’s joint secretary said that they fight for fellowships. It is so ridiculous to hear this because their government, Madam Manu-Smriti Irani, cut fellowships and the ABVP says “We fight for fellowships”. The ABVP’s people take photographs like Dev Anand in front of rollers and say that they are getting hostels made and bringing WiFi and increasing fellowships. Their lies will be exposed, friends, if there is a debate in this country on fundamental questions. And I am proud that we JNU-ites discuss and raise fundamental questions.

Kumar also lashes out against the RSS and ABVP for allegedly using violence against Muslims, women and clamping down on the tenets of democracy.

[Subramanian] Swamy says that there are jihadis in JNU. He says that people at JNU spread violence. On behalf of JNU, I challenge RSS pracharaks to come and debate with us. We want to debate on the concept of violence. And we want to raise questions. We want to raise questions on the ABVP’s slogan that says “khoon se tilak karenge, goliyon se aarti”. Whose blood do you want to let flow in this country? You have offered bullets, alongside the British, and used them against people who were fighting for this country’s independence. When the poor in this country demand food, when people dying of starvation talk of their rights, you use bullets against them. You have used bullets against Muslims. And against women when they raise the issue of their rights. You say that the five fingers of a hand cannot be equal, that women should live like Sita and should have to go through trials by fire like Sita. But there is democracy in this country, and democracy gives everyone the right to equality. Whether they be a student or a karamchari or a poor person or a worker or a farmer or Ambani or Adani; everybody has equal rights. So when we talk about women’s right to equality, they say that we want to ruin Indian culture...So why are they so uncomfortable? They have a problem when the people of this country talk about democracy.

National Students Union of India members are detained by police during a protest in support of Kanhaiya Kumar. (Photo: AP)

He challenges them to charge him for defamation and mocks them for distributing “certificates” of patriotism.

They are conspiring, they are stooges of the British. Come, bring a case of defamation against me. I say that the RSS’s history is the history of standing strong with the British. And these traitors of the nation today distribute certificates of desh bhakti. Check my mobile, friends, they are viciously abusing my mother and sister. Of which Bharat Mata do you speak if my mother is not part of this Bharat Mata? I do not agree with that Bharat Mata concept. My mother is an anganwadi worker. My family survives on Rs 3,000. And they are abusing my mother. I am ashamed that the mothers of the poor, workers, Dalits, farmers of this country are not part of Bharat Mata. I will hail Bharat’s many matas, fathers, sisters, farmers, workers, Dalits, Adivasis. If you have the guts, then say “inquilab zindabad”. Say “Long live Bhagat Singh”. Say “Long Live Sukhdev”. Say “Long live Ashfaqulla Khan”. Say “Long live Babasaheb”. Then we will believe that you have faith in this country.

Kumar also highlights that JNU stands against violence and denounces “unidentified people who have raised the slogan of ‘Pakistan zindabad’”.

The JNUSU does not support any violence, any terrorist , any terror attack, any anti-national activity. I want to reassert this in no uncertain terms. There are some unidentified people who have raised the slogan of “Pakistan zindabad”. The JNUSU strongly denounces them. I also want to share a question for the JNU administration and the ABVP. A thousand things happen in this campus. Please listen carefully to the ABVP slogans. They say “communist kutte [dogs]”, they say “Afzal Guru ke pille [puppies]”, they say “jihadiyon ke bachhe [children]”. Don’t you agree that if this Constitution has given us the rights of a citizen, then calling my father a dog, is it not the trampling of our constitutional rights?

Read the entire speech here.