Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar was released Thursday, after three weeks in jail for allegedly making seditious speeches inside the university campus. Kumar, after being released, addressed a huge crowd in the university saying that the freedom they seek is not from India, but within India.
The 28-year-old PhD student, who was arrested Feb. 12 from the university campus, was attacked by a mob dressed as lawyers when he was presented in court Feb. 15. He was released after the videos that were being used as evidence of his alleged crime were found doctored. Kumar was released Thursday on an interim bail for six months after furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000.
Kumar, who made an almost 60-minute speech Thursday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also spoke about equality and socialism. "I come from a village. Where there are magic shows. People show magic and sell rings that fulfill all wishes...We have some people like that in our country, who say black money will come back, sabka saath sabka vikas (development for all). We Indians forget too soon but this time the tamasha (show) is too big and these jumlas(gimmicks) won't be forgotten," NDTV quoted him as saying.
Standing amid a crowd of students in JNU, Kumar in his speech, attacked Hindutva political parties saying: "the more you suppress us we will stand up more. It's a long fight. We will continue fight without bowing down. We will fight against RSS and BJP. We have created history we will create history. We will fight. We will win," the Hindustan Times reports.
The JNUSU president also used his time in jail as a trope in his speech and presented an anecdote of a conversation with a constable, where he explains to the policeman that "Laal salaam" or red salute means revolution.
Kumar also mentioned deceased PhD scholar from Hyderabad University, Rohith Vemula, in his speech.
"This attack (on JNU) is to delegitimise the UGC protests, to prevent justice to Rohith Vemula," HT quoted him as saying.
The 28-year-old also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he had ideological differences with the prime minister, but agrees with his tweet Satyamev Jayate (truth will prevail). Modi had recently tweeted Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's impassioned Lok Sabha speech with the quote "Satyamev Jayate."
The video of Kumar's speech, which continues to make waves on social media, ended with him raising the "Azaadi" slogan — where he urges for freedom from casteism, poverty, and other social evils — that had earlier led to his arrest.
