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Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedition, has never made anti-national remarks and in fact, opposes all forms of extremism, fellow students and his PhD teacher-guide say.
Those who know him well in JNU as well as those who have known him from his younger days in Bihar insist that his politics are left-wing, pro-poor but certainly not anti-India.
And those who were present at the controversial 9 February meeting on Kashmir at the JNU campus say Kanhaiya did not raise any of the anti-India slogans blamed on a section of students and outsiders.
Amrita and Kanhaiya have been friends for over a decade. Two other students – Rahila Perween, a PhD student, and
Piyush Ranjan Jha, an MPhil student – both of whom were present at the
9 February event said that Kanhaiya “did not raise any anti-national
slogans”.
The first president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) from the CPI-affiliated AISF, Kanhaiya faces charges of sedition for allegedly raising the slogans. He has denied the charge.
“He is objective, analytical, empathizes with social issues and is against all forms of extremism,” said Amrita on Wednesday, a day when Kanhaiya was sent to judicial custody till March 2 after being roughed up by lawyers opposing him.
Amrita and Kanhaiya pursued their bachelor degrees in geography from the College of Commerce in 2003 in Patna. She said he was always a meritorious student and a good orator with an in-depth knowledge of world affairs.
Kanhaiya, now in his late 20s, is pursuing his PhD in African Studies at JNU under Professor SN Malakar.
Rahila Perween, who has known Kanhaiya for 13-14 years, was also present at the 9 February event.
Piyush Ranjan Jha said Kanhaiya arrived at the venue to
prevent clashes between student groups on 9 February.
A resident of Bihat village in Bihar, Kanhaiya’a father is a
farmer and mother a health worker in Begusarai district, said Biswajit, general
secretary of the AISF, the student wing of the Communist Party of India.
His elder brother works for a private company, his younger brother has just completed his masters in commerce and his elder sister is married and lives in Bihar.
Kanhaiya won the JNUSU president’s post in September 2015. It was the first time the AISF won the post though it had held other positions in the student union in the past.
Biswajit insisted that Kanhaiya was a patriot.
(Priyanka can be contacted at priyanka.p@ians.in. This article has been published in a special arrangement with IANS.)
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Published: 18 Feb 2016,04:57 PM IST