Bol, ke lab azaad hai tere: Speak for your lips are yet free
Akshaya Tankha (JNU 2006) University of Toronto
A full Hindi transcript and video of Kanhaiya Kumar’s speech may be found here: http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/jnusu-president-kanhaiya-kumars-speech-before-being-arrested/
A complete English translation may be accessed here:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160216/jsp/frontpage/story_69576.jsp#.VsVc8HQrK8r
Guest Post by Students and Teachers of Syracuse University, Colgate University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
We, the undersigned at Syracuse University, Colgate University, and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, are in solidarity with our comrades at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India against the ongoing anti-democratic actions by the Indian state. We demand an immediate end to the police action against students on campus, and withdrawal of all charges against Kanhaiya Kumar, President of the JNU Students’ Union. We further demand that the Central Government put an immediate end to its prejudiced persecution of student activists on campuses across the country.
We strongly believe that the charge of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar follows spurious claims. This arrest is an excuse for the state to root out dissenting voices on JNU campus, a move towards converting educational institutions like JNU into an arm of the authoritarian state. Attempts of a similar nature have been witnessed recently at other Indian educational institutions such as Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Hyderabad University. The growing threat to academic freedom posed by the current political climate is transnational, and extends beyond India to other parts of the world–it is a threat we face here in the United States, too.
For any word or action to qualify as being “seditious” under Indian law, it has to directly issue a call to violence. This was not the nature of the protest held by a group of JNU students against the judiciary’s decision regarding Afzal Guru, who was convicted of an attack on the Indian parliament. The peaceful protest held on February 9 on campus was not unlike other protests convened at the university over the last several decades. Dissent is an essential part of a healthy democracy. We therefore strongly condemn the Indian government’s response to the students’ protests and demand that the state refrain from authoritarian behaviour. In this spirit, we urge the Vice Chancellor of JNU to protect members of the university community and safeguard their democratic rights. Continue reading Stand With JNU – SUNY College, Colgate and Syracuse Universities for Academic Freedom in India
Guest Post by Democratic Students’ Alliance, Pakistan
17th February, 2016
Dear Student friends of JNU, Delhi
The issue of academic freedom is one that is tied to the essence of education itself: to think, to question, to speak and probe, to understand, to challenge and to learn.
The strangulation of political and academic freedoms is a dark hallmark of despotic and authoritarian societies and governments which aim to silence and subjugate. State intrusion in intellectual spaces is an assault on democratic rights and liberties; academic freedom must not be subordinated to state agendas. We believe that political freedoms are central to a democratic state and that their suspension leads to nothing but danger.
This is a guest post by SUVRAT RAJU
Three hundred and seventy-nine Indian scientists and academics have written a letter to the Vice Chancellor of JNU expressing their dismay at the recent events there.
In the letter, the signatories express their “deep disappointment” with the actions of the JNU Vice Chancellor, and call on him to take “urgent corrective steps to ensure that the police releases the arrested students, and also to ensure that it drops the unsubstantiated charges against them.”
The list of signatories includes hundreds of scientists from the leading scientific institutions in the country. The fact that so many members of what is otherwise an apolitical community signed this letter within about 24 hours indicates the level of outrage that these events have generated.
Please see below a full text of the letter and a list of signatories.
16 February 2016
Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar
Vice Chancellor
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi-110 067, India
Dear Prof. Kumar,
We are writing, as a group of academics, to express our deep disappointment with your actions in the events leading up to the arrest and detention of several students last week.
We understand that last Tuesday, a student group organized a rally to commemorate the death anniversary of Afzal Guru. The police alleges that some of the students voiced controversial opinions. The police then proceeded to arrest the president of the JNU Students Union, Kanhaiya Kumar, and charged him with sedition. This has been followed by a number of further detentions. What is most disturbing is that the JNU administration appears to have defended and aided these repressive actions by the police, rather than defending the students who were involved in a non-violent activity.
The arrest of the president of the JNUSU is especially troublesome since he was not even an organizer of the rally but merely present to express his solidarity. However, even as far the organizers and the speakers at the event are concerned, we hope that you recognize that expressing controversial views in a peaceful forum cannot be equated with sedition. For example, many people believe that Afzal Guru was let down by a lack of appropriate legal representation in his trial, and that his execution was therefore a grave miscarriage of justice. One may agree or disagree with this viewpoint — and, indeed, signatories to this letter hold different positions — but we are unanimous that students should have the right to freely discuss this issue. This is such a basic pillar of academic ethics that we were dismayed by the statement made by the registrar of JNU, Mr. Bupinder Zutshi, who reportedly said “The government of India hanged him [Afzal Guru] after declaring him a terrorist. How could we allow them to organise an anti-Indian programme?” This indicates a complete lack of appreciation of the concept of academic freedom.
India is a vast country, and no one group can define what it means to be “nationalist” or “anti-national” is, in specific terms of positions to hold and causes to support. The country’s fabric is strong enough to accommodate a plurality of views. It is the attempt to suppress differing viewpoints that is genuinely damaging for the country’s democratic ethos. Further, we believe that creativity in all branches of knowledge — surely in the interest of our nation — finds highest expression in a milieu that does not put constraints on the freedom of thought.
It is ironic that this attempt to suppress dissent occurred at one of the country’s leading Universities. A University is a site where contesting ideas are explored and where students should be able to freely debate and discuss various views, including controversial ones, without the threat of state action.
Senior members of the government have aggressively targeted your students. The JNU administration should have protected its students against these attacks and charges that have also vitiated the police investigation. We are deeply disappointed that you have failed to carry out this responsibility.
We hope that you will take urgent corrective steps to ensure that the police releases the arrested students, and also to ensure that it drops the unsubstantiated charges against them. We also hope that, in the future, you will take steps to protect freedom of speech on the JNU campus.
Continue reading Indian Scientific Community Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice Chancellor
Guest Post by Pallavi Paul
Dear Umar,
My name is Pallavi Paul and like you I am a PhD student at JNU.
I write this letter to apologize to you. What thoughts must be crossing your mind and that of your family, friends and comrades- as bloodthirsty, jingoist goons are on a shameless head hunt for you and your friends. I apologize to you for the poverty of imagination of a state that brands you as anti-national, while continues to trample on the rights and bodies of those living within its borders from Pulwama to New Delhi to Hyderabad. I apologize to you that you find yourself in a society where to echo the feelings of thousands of Kashmiris, to think of yourself as first devoted to the idea of justice before any arbitrary construct of the nation, to be moved by suffering, to critique capital punishment – is considered an act of terrorism. In a beautiful post on Facebook your sister lovingly called you a “communist paagal”. I apologize to you that this current oppressive climate is too cramped for your magical madness. The imagination of a beautiful world which has place not only for sangh certified, brahminically privileged, self- affirming ‘Indian-ness’, but for everyone who has found themselves left outside of this fold- the landless, the stateless, those without the protections of caste, class, religion, gender or nation.
What a wonderful name you chose for the event on the 9th of February – Country Without A Post Office. After, one of Agha Shahid Ali’s most haunting works, which references a time in the 1990s when no letters were delivered to Kashmir. There was no way for people to talk to or hear one another. You chose to think about the punishment accorded to Afsal Guru, along with this history. Your efforts to create a conversation, a debate on what it means to take a human life, is today being branded as evidence of your anti-nationalism. I apologize to you for the amnesia and the fragile ego of this country, which is unable to revisit its history without a shred of doubt or criticality. Where the only way to serve the cause of the country is by mouthing its praises and letting it rot in its own status quo and not by bringing to it newer questions, possibilities and challenges.
Many television channels like Times Now, News X, Zee have been ruthless and vicious in trying to establish links between you and terrorist organizations like the Jaish- e- Mohammad. I am sorry that you are living in a country where your name makes it so easy for this connection to be made. While comrade Kanhaiya is still in Police Custody fighting the preposterous charge of sedition, even as I write this to you- he has at the very minimum the assurance that he will not be linked to an Islamist Terrorist Organization. You, dear Umar do not even have that. Even that you are a self proclaimed atheist is not guarantee against prejudiced links being made between the religion you were born into and your political beliefs. That you made a choice outside of religion and the various forms of violence that its fundamentalist interpretations throw up, has been drowned in the noise being whipped up by vigilante, self proclaimed ‘nationalists’.
Like every storm this too will pass. The arrogance of this regime will be its undoing. Today there is a report in the Hindu, where the Central Government has denied receiving any report linking you to terrorist outfits. It is being widely shared on social media with the hashtag #weareumarkhalid. We know that your social media account has been hacked , but be assured that many voices are also rising in your support. I do not know when or whether you will be able to read this letter, but I hope that whenever we meet we will be able to celebrate freedom, justice and the spirit of critique. The seasons will change and the breeze will blow more merrily.
Take care of yourself dear comrade, the struggle is on.
Lal Salaam!
Pallavi Paul is a filmmaker and a PhD candidate at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
This is a statement signed by over 450 lawyers, law teachers and law students expressing their solidarity with JNU and Kanhaiya Kumar
We, the undersigned, as current students, alumni and professors of law universities, stand in strong opposition to the recent events which have unfolded at JNU, especially those involving the arrest of the JNUSU President, among other disproportionate measures. We strongly disapprove of the free reign given to the police to question, detain and arrest any student or faculty member for voicing their opinions.
We believe that university spaces are forums to discuss, question and debate fundamental political issues from different perspectives. University campuses are, and should be, spaces where people can peacefully voice their opinions, raise questions and disagree with each other on issues which concern us all as a part of the polity. The only way to uphold the ethics and values of safe spaces on university campuses, is to counter through dialogue and debate, not state backed violence. What a university campus cannot be is a site for stifling dissent and opinions with the threat of violence and a state backed misuse of the Indian Penal Code especially that of provisions such as sedition which were earlier used against many of our freedom fighters, those we eulogize as defenders of our “national” identity.
मार्क्स की शिकायत भी पूंजीवाद से यही थी, कि वह व्यक्ति को उसके अपने ख़ास व्यक्तित्व की सर्जनात्मक सम्भावना से ही वंचित कर देता है, कि वह उसे उसके आर्थिक व्यापारों में ही शेष कर देता है. मनुष्यता का बहुलांश सांस्कृतिकता उपलब्ध ही नहीं कर पाता. मार्क्सवाद मानवता को अपनी इस इस भीषण ट्रेजेडी को समझने और फिर एक सुखांत की कल्पना करने का आह्वान करता है. इस पर बहस आगे. क्यों उस सुखांत के संधान के लिए कम्युनिस्ट पार्टियां ही काफी न थीं, इस पर भी बात होनी चाहिए. अभी तो सिर्फ इतना ही समझने की कोशिश करनी है कि जे. एन. यू. पर ऐसा हमला क्यों! क्या जे.एन. यू. उस चिर-क्षुधित और चिर-असंतुष्ट पूंजीवाद की राह में पड़ा कोई रोड़ा है जो बांधों को ऊँचा-और ऊँचा करते, नदियों को पाटते, पर्वतों को चूर-चूर करते, जंगलों को निगलते, समुन्दर और जमीन को खोदते जाने कहाँ एक अदृष्ट की ओर भागा चला जा रहा है? वह पूंजीवाद वह गुलीवर है जिसे बाँधने की कोशिश करते सारे लोग लिलिपुटियों की तरह हास्यास्पद जान पड़ते हैं? क्या जे.एन.यू. ऐसे ही लिलिपुटियों को तैयार करने का कारखाना है?
जे. एन. यू. दरिद्रता के पैरोकारों की ही जगह नहीं, यह साबित करने के लिए दीपंकर गुप्ता और इला पटनायक के नाम काफी होने चाहिए. ये नाम इसलिए कि मीडिया इन्हें जल्दी पहचान लेगा. 1050 शब्दों और आधे मिनट की बाईट की आदत जिन्हें पड़ चुकी है उन्हें गंगा ढाबा के पत्थरों की किसी समाधान पर पहुंचे बिना अगली रात के लिए मुल्तवी हो जाने वाली शहरजाद की हजार रातों से भी लंबी बहसों को सुनने की न तो फुरसत है, न शौक ही. ये बहसें बेकार का शगल हैं जो कुछ उपयोगी पैदा नहीं करतीं. और मार्क्स भी दरअसल तलबगार है शौक का जो ज़रूरतों के बंधन से इंसान को आज़ाद करने का एक पागल सा सपना देखता है.
सारी ज़रूरतों के ऊपर एक ज़रूरत होती है संग-साथ की. नौजवान मार्क्स जे.एन.यू. के तालिबे-इल्मों के लिए लिखता मालूम पड़ता है, “ जब कम्युनिस्ट कामगार आपस में मिलते हैं, तो उनका फौरी मकसद होता है, प्रशिक्षण, प्रचार, वगैरह. लेकिन उसी पल वे एक नई ज़रुरत की भी ईजाद करते है, समाज की ज़रुरत की, और जो साधन मालूम पड़ता है, वह लक्ष्य में तब्दील हो जाता है. यह व्यावहारिक परिवर्तन सबसे ज़्यादा उजागर है फ्रांसीसी समाजवादी कामगारों के जमावड़ों में. तंबाकू,खाना और पीना,आदि अब लोगों के बीच रिश्ते बनाने का जरिया नहीं रह जाते हैं. संग-साथ, गप-शप, जिनकी मंजिल समाजियत है, उनके लिए अपने आप में काफी हैं. भाईचारा कोई नारा नहीं है, एक सचाई है, और इंसान की उदात्तता की चमक( रौशनी) उनके श्रम-जर्जर शरीरों से फूटती है.”जे.एन. यू. की रूह क्लासरूमों में नहीं बसती. वह जीवनानंद दास की चील की तरह खुले आसमानों में परवाज भरती है और अरावली की चट्टानों पर दम लेने को उतरती है. इंसान के तसव्वुर से जाने कितना पहले से पृथ्वी के पृथ्वी की शक्ल लेने की गवाह ये चट्टानें क्या निर्विकार रह पाती होंगी जब इन इंसानी सूरतों को कुछ फानी मसलों पर यों बहस करते सुनती होंगीं,मानो उन्हीं में सारी कायनात की मुश्किलों का हल छिपा है ? इन पाषाण-खंडों की तरह ही ये बहसें भी चिरंतन जान पड़ती हैं और उतनी ही बेकार.
छात्र संघ का चुनाव है और दो छात्र दल चुनावी तालमेल की बात करते हैं.दोनों ही वामपंथी हैं और मार्क्स को अपना आदि गुरु मानते हैं. तालमेल के लिए कुछ मुद्दों पर सहमति आवश्यक है. जे. एन. यू. की परिपाटी के मुताबिक़ रात को मीटिंग तय पाई जाती है. जब दोनों मिलते हैं तो एक का नेता दूसरे से पूछता है, “ तो पहले इसकी सफाई हो जाए कि आपकी नज़र में भारतीय राज्य का चरित्र क्या है?” बहस रात भर चलती है और पौ फटने तक बेनतीजा रहती है. समझौता नहीं हो पाता और दोनों अलग-अलग चुनाव लड़ने का फैसला करते हैं.
भारतीय राज्य के चरित्र से एक विश्वविद्यालय के छात्र संघ के चुनाव का रिश्ता? या इराक पर अमरीकी हमले या चीन के थ्येन आन मन चौक काण्ड के बारे में किसी की राय का छात्र संघ का अध्यक्ष या सचिव बनने या न बनने पर असर क्यों पड़ना चाहिए? यह सवाल जे. एन. यू. के ही शहर के दूसरे बड़े और कहीं पुराने विश्वविद्यालय में अचरज से पूछा जाता है और इस पर फिर हंसा भी जाता है. क्योंकि यहाँ और बाकी विश्विद्यालयों में छात्र संघ चुनाव वैसे लड़े जाते हैं जैसे उन्हें लड़ा जाना चाहिए. यह किसी ने नहीं पूछा, न लिंगदोह समिति ने और न जे.एन. यू. के छात्र संघ का चुनाव सालों तक रोक देने वाले उच्चतम न्यायालय ने, कि उनके पहले ऐसा हो सका था कि छात्र संघ का चुनाव सिर्फ हाथ लिखे पोस्टरों और छात्रों की सभाओं के बल पर साल-दर साल होता रहा, कि छात्रों के चुनाव-अधिकारी होते हुए भी बिना किसी खून-खराबे और पक्षपात के चुनाव होते रहे? चूँकि उन्होंने यह नहीं पूछा , उन्होंने जे.एन.यू. पर भी अपना सार्वभौम मॉडल थोपा,उससे सीखने की बात तो दूर रही!
यह जे. एन. यू. है जहां त्रात्स्कीवादी छात्र को सुनने भी सैकड़ों की तादाद में लोग इकट्ठा हो सकते थे. और इस भीड़ में छात्र ही नहीं अध्यापक भी हो सकते थे. यहाँ छात्र नेताओं को दास कैपिटल के हवाले देते सुना जा सकता था. और अगली सुबह दास कैपिटल से उद्धरण निकाल कर पोस्टरों पर यह भी साबित किया जाता था कि गई रात भाषण में मार्क्स को गलत पेश किया गया था.
जे. एन. यू. ने बनने के साथ ही दाखिले के लिए जो प्रक्रिया अपनाई उसने मुमकिन किया कि समाज के सबसे पिछड़े तबकों , सबसे पिछड़े इलाकों के नौजवान उच्च शिक्षा के ‘अभिजात’ अनुभव में साझेदारी करने आएँ. और इसलिए जब इस प्रक्रिया से छेड़छाड़ की कोशिश हुई तो जे. एन. यू. के छात्र लड़े. यह भी जे. एन. यू. में ही हो सकता था, और शुरू में ही कि लड़के और लडकियों के हॉस्टल मिले हुए हों और वे अजूबों की तरह एक दूसरे से न मिलें. ध्यान रहे कि इन छात्रों में ज़्यादातर वे थे जो ‘पिछड़े’ राज्यों से आए थे, जहां सामाजिक मेल जोल में यौन-संकोच अधिक है. फिर भी जे. एन. यू. में लड़कियों के साथ बदतमीजी की खबर शायद ही सुनी गई. एक छात्र ने ध्यान दिलाया , ये घटनाएं तब होना शुरू हुईं, जब छात्र संघ ठप्प पड़ गया था क्योंकि चुनाव रोक दिए गए थे.
स्वागत, यारबाशी जे. एन. यू. के डी. एन. ए. में हैं. जब बिहार से उदास होकर चंद्रशेखर दिल्ली आया तो जे. एन. यू. के पूर्वांचल और महानदी के कमरों ने उसका स्वागत किया. न सिर्फ उसके किशोर भैया ने, जयंत, नीरज लाभ ने भी. और बाद में न जाने कितने छात्रों ने उसे,जो जे.एन.यू.का छात्र नहीं था,इत्मीनान दिया. यह तो बाद की बात थी कि वह जे. एन. यू. का सबसे लाड़ला छात्र संघ अध्यक्ष बना.
जे. एन. यू. सिर्फ जे. एन. यू. में नहीं है. वह उनकी कोई न थी, जिसके साथ दिल्ली की सडकों पर दिसम्बर की एक रात बलात्कार किया गया, फिर भी जे. एन. यू. के छात्र निकल पड़े और राष्ट्रपति भवन का द्वार उन्होंने झकझोर डाला. दिल्ली इन नौजवानों के क्रोध से जगी और पहचानना मुश्किल हो गया कि इनमें कौन जे. एन. यू. है और कौन शहर. रवीन्द्रनाथ ठाकुर ने एक ऐसे विश्वविद्यालय की कल्पना की थी जो चहारदीवारी में घिरा न हो. उसका सबसे सुंदर उदाहरण दिसंबर के वे दिन और रातें थीं जब जे. एन. यू. शहर के बीचोंबीच आ गया. तभी यह भी हुआ कि जे. एन. यू . के नौजवानों ने पुकारा और शहर उसके पास गया, मुनीरका की गलियों में युवा कदमों से कदम मिलाने की कोशिश करता हुआ, मुक्तिबोध के शब्दों में पश्चातपद. शहर को इसका इत्मीनान है कि वह जब पुकारेगा, कोई सुने न सुने, जे. एन. यू. उसे सुनेगा. इस भरोसे के आगे किसी विश्वविद्यालय को क्या चाहिए?
Mr Bassi said to the press:
“Investigation is on. And after identifying the people, action will be taken as per the law. O.P. Sharma said that he was injured. If I may use the term it was a little surcharged environment. Allegations and counter allegations have been levelled from both the sides. So, we have registered FIR in both episodes.”
There were no “two episodes”. There was one – of unprovoked violence by a mob.
I was one of those inside the courtroom, and if I may use the term Mr Bassi, your lack of professionalism and your bias is a little too evident. The atmosphere was not surcharged until hordes of Sanghis suddenly poured into Court No. 4 Patiala House, in what is now clear was a pre-planned attack mobilized through a WhatsApp message.
Continue reading Police Commissioner Bassi – His Master’s Voice
Jai Bhim, Joy Guru, Lal Salaam
Two of the greatest, crazies, most beautiful minds produced by the Indian subcontinent in the Twentieth Century would have been arrested by the police and attacked by the RSS, as ‘Anti-Nationals’, perhaps rightly so, had they been alive today.After all, they never stopped being young.
One of them was tall, you know him – the big guy, with glasses, always dressed to the nines, (no itchy khadi or scratchy khaki would do for him) .
The other had long hair and a beard, and even became a contemporary artist in his old age.
The cops, or thugs-in-law of the RSS might even have said “saala JNU ka lagta hai” (looks like this ***** is from JNU).
So, here they are – Bhimrao Ambedkar (Baba Saheb), and Rabindranath Tagore.
Once again, Jai Bhim, Joy Guru. And pass the ammunition.
Continue reading Break Down the Barriers: Reading Robin T, Bhimrao and the Nation State in JNU
We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the arbitrary, unconstitutional, and anti-democratic actions of the BJP/RSS/ABVP/Delhi Police continuum at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus. We demand an immediate end to all police action on campus, a withdrawal of all frivolous charges against the President of JNU Students’ Union, Kanhaiya Kumar, and other students, as well as an end to the campaign of harassment and intimidation against students at the university. Continue reading Statement of Solidarity with Student Protests in India : Students of the University of Chicago
We at Kafila have been receiving amazing statements of solidarity with JNU and its elected students’ President Kanhaiya Kumar over the past three days. We are posting them below, along with affiliations: South Asia University (teachers and students); Grinnell College, USA, Ambedkar University Delhi Faculty Association, Democratic Teachers Network, Hyderabad, and over a hundred students from Department of English, Delhi University.
STUDENTS OF SOUTH ASIA UNIVERSITY
We, the students of South Asian University, New Delhi (comprising of students from eight SAARC nations – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) strongly oppose the idea that one’s nationalism be defined in terms of hatred towards another nation (for example, Indian nationalism be defined as hatred towards Pakistan, or vice versa). We cherish the common cultural and social heritage of the South Asian region, and shall not let any kind of jingoist nationalism being endorsed by any religious group, political party or state hinder our shared solidarity. However, in recent times, such groups and establishments have unleashed an attack on democratic and critical voices in our universities across the South Asian region, masked under religious conformity, state intervention or sometimes in the form of an act of terrorism.
Thus, we stand in complete solidarity with the student and faculty community of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in their collective struggle against the ongoing police intervention by slapping the baseless charges of sedition on many students, including the arrest of JNUSU President – Kanhaiya Kumar, and against the massive propaganda terming the JNU as ‘a den of anti-nationals’. We would like to reiterate that our collective nationalism stands responsible only to the interests of our people and our land, and not to the divisive forces which have had and are still trying to create boundaries between us.
STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH STUDENT PROTESTS IN INDIA, FROM STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF OF GRINNELL COLLEGE
Continue reading Statements of Solidarity For JNU From Various Quarters
This is a guest post by ADITYA SARKAR
JNU has entered an indefinite state of siege. Police have been swarming all over campus, raiding hostels, picking up students and interrogating them. The ABVP, predictably, have been directing them to the lairs of ‘anti-national elements’. When immense demonstrations of public solidarity with the accused students were organized, ABVP activists have attacked these, in one case mounting a violent physical assault on a visiting speaker. The JNU administration has gone to the extent of cutting off the power supply to the microphones used at a protest meeting. At Patiala House on Monday the 15th of February, the BJP’s MLAs and what appear to be a group of lawyers have assaulted JNU students, faculty and supporters in full view of the police, with what can only be regarded as smug impunity. More than one observer has remarked that this is the Emergency all over again.
It is clear that the arrayed forces of the central government are pitted against a campus which has long been an object of hatred for the Right. There’s no telling how matters will develop in the days and weeks to come. So it might be necessary to step back a bit and consider the sequence of events that led to the current situation.
In the past month, JNU students organized a protest meeting which raised the issue of Kashmiri rights, and drew attention – just as Rohith Vemula’s protest in Hyderabad had done – to the execution of Afzal Guru in 2013. Since the mainstream news outlets systematically censor any attempt to reopen that extremely murky case, it’s worth reminding ourselves of precisely why the execution was so controversial. The terrorist attack on Parliament in December 2001 produced a police investigation on which serious doubt was cast from the beginning. Afzal Guru’s laptop and mobile phone, key pieces of evidence, had not been sealed prior to investigation. One of the other accused in the case, a Delhi University lecturer (who was later emphatically acquitted) was viciously framed by Zee News, which used the police charge-sheet to make a documentary ‘establishing’ his guilt. The court proceedings were even more revealing. The Supreme Court admitted that there was no hard evidence to conclusively establish Afzal Guru’s involvement in criminal conspiracy. But these admissions were merely qualifications to what was perhaps the most extraordinary decision in the history of the judiciary in independent India. Afzal Guru was eventually hanged in 2013 on the basis that only this would appease ‘the collective conscience of the nation society’.
Continue reading On framing JNU for an imaginary crime: Aditya Sarkar
Guest Post by Pallavi Paul
As I comb through the deluge of responses and opinions that have been circulating on television, social media, newspapers and conversations over the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, there is one particular fear that sticks out repeatedly. The fear of JNU being a ‘transformative’ space. Where young and innocent minds are changed. The question that follows then is- changed into what? Even as we see ABVP students vociferously defending police action on all media platforms, the Sanskrit department continuing with classes in spite of the call for strike in support of Kanhaiya and faculty members like Hari Ram Mishra (CSS) issuing media statements against the student agitation currently underway- the simple formula that JNU transforms its students into ‘anti-national’ elements (going by the current interpretation of the term) begins to appear erroneous. In addition to having a culture of critical thinking, debate, questioning and radical left politics – JNU has also had an equally dynamic history of Hindutva and Brahaminical politics. For every protest on Afsal Guru there is a Guru Dakhshina Karyakram, for every Sitaram Yechury addressing students there is an Ashok Singhal (who visited the campus in 2002 even amidst intense protests). This fear then, if seen clearly begins to appear more and more abstract. It bases itself on a ‘sense’ of the campus- rather than its actual political fiber. Infact if one hears carefully it is the larger fear of things changing, things changing irreversibly.
Continue reading Some thoughts on love in times of hate – from a JNU student : Pallavi Paul
In light of the glorious vigilantism being witnessed today, in which the lumpen lawyers at Patiala House are joining hands with Guardian of the Nation Horn-nob Go-Swamy on primetime TV A few years ago, finding myself in a heated but very enjoyable argument on why women change their surnames after marriage, somebody yelled from across the room, “What has JNU done to you?!”
I wasn’t surprised, only annoyed. Reducing my entire biography and political beliefs to an institution I attended once upon a time is a favourite pastime in India, when that institution happens to be JNU. I could have explained to the genius who shouted this that if I do have political opinions, neither were they surgically implanted in me at JNU nor will they wither away like the bourgeois state in Marxism if JNU ceases to exist. I should have been grateful that the JNU-phobia was posed through the formal courtesy of a query. Usually, it takes the form of a statement, “You JNU folk are all lunatics!”
In family settings, JNU-bashing is the preferred insult to shut down an argument, “It’s the JNU in you speaking!” At seminars, a question or a paper can be made illegitimate with the simple investigative exercise of determining if you’re from ‘a particular institution with a particular ideology’. Of course, the person asking the question has miraculously escaped institutions and ideology, remaining gloriously neutral in this fractured world.
Continue reading JNU Bashing is an old pastime, but things just got much, much worse
Dear Friends
Ever since the Hindutva right-wing attacks on the country’s youthful citizens intensified – from the Kiss of Love protests to the attacks on politicized dalit youth on the campuses of IIT Madras and HCU, and now, against JNU – we have come together several times as a group to defend our right to critical thinking, action, and speech and protest against atrocities in the name of national interest and culture. We have come out not to defend our petty interests but in defense of the Indian Nation as we imagine it – differently from the right-wing – as belonging to the communities of peasants, workers, students, artisans, dancers, singers, small traders, and thousands of other groups that contribute to the economy of this country, as the homeland of vast sections of underprivileged people denied humanity in the name of caste, class, culture, ethnicity and gender. Continue reading Fearless Minds and Heads Held High: To the CDS Student Community
The statement below represents the concerns of JNU’s international alumni, and a wider global academic community of friends and comrades. The support demonstrated by the names below testifies that JNU is far more than a besieged university campus in India. JNU stands for a vital imagination of the space of the university – an imagination that embraces critical thinking, democratic dissent, student activism, and the plurality of political beliefs. It is this critical imagination that the current establishment seeks to destroy. And we know that this is not a problem for India alone. Similar attacks on critical dissent and university spaces are being attempted and resisted across the world.
If you would like to stand in solidarity with the students and faculty of JNU, and the ethos of university spaces everywhere, please mention your name and current institutional affiliation in the ‘Comments’ section. Also, in case you are a JNU alumnus, please mention the year you graduated. This list will be regularly updated.
****SOLIDARITY STATEMENT****
We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the students, faculty and staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi against the illegal ongoing police action since February 9, 2016. With them, we affirm the autonomy of the university as a non-militarized space for freedom of thought and expression. Accordingly, we condemn police presence on campus and the harassment of students on the basis of their political beliefs.
The charge of sedition, under the guise of which the police have been given a carte blanche to enter the JNU campus, to raid student hostels, arrest and detain students, including Kanhaiya Kumar, the current president of the JNU Students Union, is an alibi for the incursion of an authoritarian regime onto the university campus. Under Indian law sedition applies only to words and actions that directly issue a call to violence. The peaceful demonstration and gathering of citizens does not constitute criminal conduct. The police action on JNU campus is illegal under the constitution of India.
An open, tolerant, and democratic society is inextricably linked to critical thought and expression cultivated by universities in India and abroad. As teachers, students, and scholars across the world, we are watching with extreme concern the situation unfolding at JNU and refuse to remain silent as our colleagues (students, staff, and faculty) resist the illegal detention and autocratic suspension of students. We urge the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University to protect members of the university community and safeguard their rights.
Dated/- 15 February 2016
The war on young people continues. In this post we will only consider it’s arithmetic. Not even its algebra, simply its arithmetic.
I am prompted to do this by a strange acoustic co-incidence. While standing as part of a cordon of faculty and friends protecting the students of JNU on the public meeting on the 13th of April from a handful of ABVP activists who liked invoking blood and bullets in their slogans, I head one that stayed with me, and made me revisit a question that often bothers me.
This was the slogan ‘Hanumanthappa hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hain’. (‘Hanumanthappa we are ashamed, your murders are still alive’ ). Lance Naik Hanumanthappa, as we all know now, was a thirty two year old soldier of the Indian army who survived six days under an avalanche on the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir and then died of multiple organ failure in a Delhi military hospital. His young body must have had a tremendous and a passionate yearning for life. Sometimes I think of what a fine father or husband or lover or friend a man who loved life so must have been, could have continued to have been.
Continue reading The Tendency of the Price of Young Life to Fall and the Hope that it May Rise
See also in The Citizen Why Is The Media Not Reporting Kanhaiya’s Speech?
For English translation of Kanhaiya’s speech, see:
If anti-national means this, God save our country
JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar’s Speech: Full Transcript
(Devanagari transcript is forthcoming)
Hum hain is desh ke. Aur is mitti se pyar karte hain. Is desh ke andar jo assi pratishad garib aavam hai, hum uske liye ladte hain. Hamare liye yahi desh-hit hai. Humein pura bharosa hai Baba Saheb ke upar. Humein pura bharosa hai apne desh ke samvidhan ke upar. aur hum is baat ko pure mazbooti se kehna chahte hain ke is desh ki samvidhan pe koi ungli uthayega chahe voh ungli sanghiyon ka ho, chahe voh ungli kisi ka bhi ho us ungli ko hum bardasht nahin karenge. Hum samvidhan mein bharosa karte hain. Lekin jo samvidhan Nagpur aur jhandewalan mein padhaya jaata hai us samvidhan pe humko koi bharosa Nahin. Humko manusmriti pe koi bharosa nahin hai. Humko is desh ke andar jo jaativad hai us pe koi bharosa nahin hai. Aur vahi samvidhan, vahi Baba Saheb Doctor Bhimrao Ambedkar, samvidhan mein samvidhanik upchar ki baat karte hain. Vahi Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar capital punishment ko abolish karne ki baat karte hain. Vahi Baba Saheb Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar freedom of expression ki baat karte hain. Aur hum us position ko uphold karte hue, jo hamara buniyadi adhikar hai, jo hamara constitutional right hai, hum usko uphold karna chahte hain.
Lekin yeh bade sharam ki baat hai, yeh bade dukh ki baat hai ki aaj ABVP apne media sahiyogiyon se pure mamle ko orchestrate kar raha hai. Pure mamle ko dilute kar raha hai. SHAME. Kal ABVP ke joint secretary ne kaha ki hum fellowship ke liye ladte hain. Kitna ridiculous lagta hai sunkar ke inki sarkar, madam Manusmriti Irani, fellowship ko khatam karti hai, aur hum fellowship ke liye ladh rahe hain. Inki sarkar higher education ke andar 17 percent budget ko cut kiya hai SHAME, jis se hamara hostel pichle chaar saalon mein nahin bana. Hostel ko wifi aaj tak nahin mila, aur ek bus diya BHEL ne to us mein tel daalne ke liye prashasan ke paas paisa nahin hai. SHAME. ABVP ke log roller ke saamne devanand ke tarah tasveer khicha kar kehte hain ki hum hostel banwa rahein hain. Hum wifi karva rahein hain. Hum fellowship badhva rahein hain. Inki polpatti khul jayegi saathiyon agar is desh mein buniyadi sawal pe charcha hogi. Aur mujhe garv hai JNUite hone pe ke hum bunyadi sawal pe charcha karte hain. Hum buniyadi sawal uthate hain. Aur isilye voh [Subramaniyum] Swami kehta hai ke JNU mein jihadi rehte hain. SHAME…voh kehta hai ke JNU ke log hinsa phelate hain.
SHAME
Main JNU se challenge karna chahta hun RSS ke pracharakon ko, ke bulao use aur karo hamare saath debate. Hum karna chahte hain hinsa ke concept pe debate. Aur hum sawal khada karna chahte hain, ABVP ke us daave par. ABVP ke manch se khade ho kar bolta hai besharam: “Khoon se tilak karenge goliyon se aarti.” Kiska khoon bahana chahete ho is mulk mein tum? Kis ka dehant chahte ho is mulk mein tum?
Tumne goliyan chalayi hain. Angrezon ke saath mil kar is desh ki azadi ke liye ladhne wale logon par goliyan chalayi hain. Is mulk ke andar garib jab apni roti ki baat karta hai, jab bhookmari se marte hue log apne haqq ki baat karte hain, tum un pe goli chalate ho. SHAME…Kis par goli chalayi hai tumne is mulk mein? Mussalmanon ke upar. Tumne chalayi goli is mulk mein…mahilayein jab apne adhikar ki baat kartin hain to tum kehte ho paanchon ungli barabar nahin ho sakti SHAME…tum kehte ho mahilaon ko sita ki tarah rehna chahiye aur sita ki tarah agni pariksha dena chahiye.
Is desh mein loktantra hai aur loktantra sabko barabari ka haqq deta hai. Chahe vo vidyarthi ho, chahe vo karamchari ho, chahe vo garib ho, mazdoor ho, kisan ho, ya Ambani ho, Adani ho, sabke haqq ki barabari ki baat karta hai. Us mein mahilayon ki barabari ki baat hum karte hain, to yeh kehte hain ki hum Bharati sanskriti ko barbad karna chahte hain. Hum barbad karna chahte hain shoshan ki sanskriti ko. Jaati-vaad ki sanskriti ko, manuvaad aur Bhramanvaad ki sanskriti ko. Aur aaj tak hamari sanskriti ki paribhasha tay nahin hui. Inko dikat kahan aata hai? Inko dikat aata hai jab is mulk ke log loktantra ki baat karte hain. Jab log laal salaam ke saath leela salaam lagate hain, jab Marx ke saath Dr Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar ka naam lete hain. Jab Ashfaqulla ka naam liya jaata hai to inko pet mein darad hota hai.
Aur inki saajish hai, yeh Angrezon ke chamche hain. Lagao mere upar defamation ka case. Main kehta hun ke RSS ka itihas Angrezon ke saath khade hone ka itihaas hai. SHAME…Desh ke gaddar aaj deshbhakti ka certificate baant rahein hain. Mera mobile check kijiye saathiyon meri ma aur behen ko bhaddi bhaddi galiyan di ja rahin hain. SHAME…Kaunsi Bharat Ma ki baat karte ho agar tumhari Bharat Mata mein meri Ma shamil nahin hai. Mujhe manzur nahin hai yeh Bharat Mata ka concept. Aur is desh ki mahilayein jo garib hain, mazdoor hain… meri ma anganwadi sevika hai. Teen hazar se hamara parivar chalta hai. Aur yeh uske khilaf galiyan de rahein hain. Mujhe sharam hai is desh par, is desh mein jo garib mazdoor dalit kisan hai unki matain Bharat Mata nahin hain.
Main kahunga Jai! Bharat ki Mataon ki Jai! Pitaon ki jai! Mataon, Behenon ki jai! Kisanon, mazdooron, daliton, adivasiyon ki jai! Main kahunga, tum mein himmat hai to bolo Inqilab Zindabad! Bolo Bhagat Singh Zindabad! Bolo Sukhdev Zindabad, Bolo Asfaqullah Khan Zindabad! Bolo Baba Saheb Zindabad!
Aur Baba Saheb ki ek sau pachisvi (125th) jayanti manane ka natak kar rahe ho. Hai tum mein himmat to sawal uthao, jo sawal Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar ne uthaya, ki is desh ke andar jaativad sabse badi samasya hai. Bolo jaativad ke upar. Lao reservation! Private sector mein reservation lao! Tamam jageh reservation kayda laghu karo. Karo phir manega yeh desh tumhe. Yeh desh tumhara kabhi nahin tha, aur kabhi nahin ho sakta.
Koi desh agar banta hai, to vahan ke logon se banta hai. Agar desh ki avdharna main bhooke logon ke liye jagah nahin, garib mazdooron ke liye jagah nahin hai voh desh nahin hai. Kal main TV debate mein ye baat bol rah tha, Deepak Chaurasiyaji ko, ki: chaurasiyaji yeh gambhir samay hai is baat ko yaad rakhiyega – Agar mulk mein phansivaad jis tareeke se aa raha hai, media bhi surakshit nahin rehne wali hai. Uske bhi script likhkar aayenge [indecipherable] ke office se, aur uske bhi script likh kar aate the kabhi Indira Gandhi ke Congress ke office se. Is baat ko yaad rakhiyega.
Aur agar aap sach mein is desh mein desh bhakti dikhana chahte hain…kuch media ke saathi keh rahe the, hamare tax ke paise se, subsidy ke paise se, JNU chalta hai. Haan sach hai. Sach hai ke tax ke paise se chalta hai. Sach hai ke subsidy ke paise se chalta hai. Lekin ye sawal khada karna chahte hain, ke university hota kis liye hai? University hota hai ke samaj ke andar jo common-sense hai, quote unquote uska critical analysis kiya jaye. Critical debate ko promote kiya jaye. Agar university is kaam mein fail hai, koi desh nahin banega, desh mein koi log shamil nahin honge, aur desh hoga sirf aur sirf punjipathiyon ke liye charagah hoga, sirf aur sirf loot aur shoshan ka charagah ban kar rahe jayega. Agar desh ke andar logon ki jo sanskriti hai, logon ki jo manyatain hain, logon ka jo adhikar hai, hum usko shamil nahin karenge, to desh nahin banega.
Hum desh ke saath puri tareeke se khade hain. Aur us sapne ke saath khade hain jo Bhagat Singh aur Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar ne dikhaya hai. Hum us sapne ke saath khade hain ke sab ko barabari ka haq diya jaye. Hum us sapne ke saath khade hain ke sabko jeena ka haqq ho, sabko khane-peene rehne ka haqq ho, hum us sapne ke saath khade hain. Aur us sapne ke saath khada hone ke liye Rohit Vemula ne apna jaan gavaya hai. Lekin main kehna chahta hun in sanghiyon ko, lanat hai tumhari sarkar par, aur chunauti hi meri kendra sarkar ko, ke aap Rohit ke mamle mein jo kiya hai, voh JNU mein hum nahin hone denge. Rohit ko [punwani’?] di hai, punwani hum kya denge, hum freedom of experssion ke paksh mein khade honge.
Aur chodh do Pakistan ki baat aur Bangladesh ki baat. Hum kehte hain, duniya ke garibon ek hon, duniya ke mazdooron ek hon, duniya ki manavta zindabad, bharat ki manavta zindabad. Aur jo uss manavta ke khilaf khada hua hai, hum usko aaj identify kar chuke hain. Aur aaj sabse gambhir sawal hamare samne khada hai, ke is identification ko humko bana ke rakhna hai. Woh jo chehra hai jaativaad ka, voh jo chehra hai manuvaad ka, voh jo chehra hai brahmanvad aur punjivaad ke ghatjor ka, us chehre ko humko expose karna hai. Aur sachmuch ka loktantra, sachmuch ki azadi, sabki azadi, desh mein humko staphit karni hai. Aur vo azadi aayegi, samvidhan se aayegi, parliament se aayegi, loktantra se aayegi, aur sansad se aayegi, yeh hum kehna chahete hain. Aur isiliye, aap tamam sathiyon se appeal hai ke tamam tareeka ka differences ko side rakhte hue jo hamara freedom of expression hai, jo hamara constitution hai, jo hamara mulk hai, uski ekta ke liye hum log ekjuth rehenge, ekmust rahenge.
Aur yeh jo desh todne waali taqatein hain, aatankiyon ko panah denewale log hain: ek sawal, antim sawal poochte hue apni baat ko khatam karunga: ke kaun hai Kasab? Kaun hai Afzal Guru? Kaun hain yeh log jo aaj is stithi main hain ke apne sharir main bum bandh kar hatya karne ko tayyar hain? Agar yeh sawal university mein nahin uthega mujhe nahin lagta university hone ka koi matlab hai. Agar hum violence ko define nahin karenge, kaise hum violence ko dekhte hain. Violence sirf yahi nahin hota hai ke hum bandook lekar kisi ko maar dete hain. Violence yeh bhi hota hai ki samvidhan mein daliton ko adhikar diya gaya hai voh adhikar JNU prashasan dene se mana karta hai. Yeh institutional violence hai. Yeh log justice ki baat karte hain. Kaun tay karega ki justice kya hai? Jab Brahmanvadi vyvastha thi to daliton ko mandir mein nahin ghusne dete the, yahi justice tha. Jab Angrez the to kutton ko Aur Bharatiyon ko restraunt main nahin jaane diya jaata tha, yahi justice tha, is justice ko humne challenge kiya. Aur hum aaj bhi ABVP aur sanghiyon ke justice ko challenge karte hain, ke tumhara justice humare justice ko accomodate nahin karta hai. Agar tumhara justice humare justice ko accomodate karta to hum nahin manenge tumhare justice ko aur nahin manenge tumhari azadi ko. Hum manenge us din azaadi ko jis din har insan ko uska constitutional right milega. Jis din har insan ko uska samvidhanik adhikar dete huye is mulk ke andar barabari ka darza diya jayega, us din hum justice ko manenge.
Doston bahut gambhir paristhiti hai. Kisi bhi taur par JNUSU kisi bhi hinsa ka, kisi bhi atankwadi ka, kisi bhi atankwadi ghatana ka, kisi bhi desh-virodhi activity ka koi samarthan nahin karta hai. Kade shabdon main ek baat phir se jo kuch log, unidentified log, jo Pakistan zindabad ke naare lagaye hain, JNUSU uske kade shabdon main bhatshna karta hai. Saath hi saath ek baat jo hai usko aap sab logon ko share karte hue khatam…yeh sawal hai JNU administration aur ABVP ke liye: Is campus mein, hazaar tarah ki cheezein hoti hain. Abhi aap dhyan se ABVP ka slogan suniye: yeh kehte hain communits kutte. Yeh kehte hain Afzal Guru ke pille. Yeh kehte hain Jihadiyon ke bacche. Humein kya nahin lagta ke agar is samvidhan ne humein nagarik hone ka adhikar diya hai, to mere baap ko kutta kehna, yeh mere samvidhanik adhikar ka hanan hai ki nahin hai? Yeh sawal mein ABVP se poochta hun.
Yeh sawal poochna chahete hain JNU administration se, ke aap kis ke liye kaam karte hain? Kis ke saath kaam karte hain? Aur kis ke aadhar pe kaam karte hain? Yeh baat aaj bilkul spasht ho chuki hai. Ke JNU administration, pehle permission deta hai, phir Nagpur se phone aane ke baad permission leta hai. Yeh jo permission lene aur dene ke prakriya hai, yeh usi tarike se chit tej ho gayi hai is mulk main, jaise fellowship lene aur dene ki prakriya hai. Ke pehle aapko fellowship badhane ke ghoshna ki jayegi, aur phir kaha jayega ke fellowship band ho gaya hai. Yeh sanghi pattern hai. Yeh RSS aur ABVP ka pattern hai. Jis pattern se who mulk to chalana chahte hain. Aur issi pattern se woh JNU administration ko chalana chahte hain. Humara sawal hai JNU ke Vice Chancellor se ke poster laga tha JNU main, parche aaye the mess mein. Agar dikat tha to pehle JNU administration permission nahin deta. Agar permission diya, to kiske kehne se permission cancel kiya, yeh baat JNu administration clear kare, yeh sawal hum sirf poochna chahte hain.
Saath hi saath yeh jo log hain inki sacchai jaan lijiye. Un se nafarat mat kijiyega, Kyonki hum log nafarat kar nahin sakte. Inse mujhe, bada hi daya bhav hai inke prati mujhe hai. Yeh itne uchal rahe hain. Kyon? Inko lagta hai jaise Gajendar Chauhan ko baithaya hai, waise har jageh Chauhan, Diwan, Farman jaari karte rahenge. Yeh Chauhan, Diwan aur Farman ki badaulat yeh har jagah naukari paate rahenge. Isiliye jab yeh jor se bharat mata ki jai chilayein to aap samajh lijiye ki parson inka interview DU mein hone wala hai. Naukari lagegi, deshbhakti peeche chootegi. Naukari lagegi, bharat mata ka koi khayal nahin rahega. Naukari lagegi, tiranga ko to inhonein kabhi mana hi nahin, bhagwa jhanda bhi nahin phirayenge. Main sawal karna chahta hun ke yeh kaisi deshbhakti hai. Agar ek malik apne naukar se sahi bartav nahin karta, agar kisan apne mazdoor se sahi bartav nahin karta hai, agar punjipati apne employee se sahi bartav nahin karta hai, aur ye alag alag channel ke log, jo patrakari ka kaam karte hain 15 hazar rupaiye ke liye. Inke jo CEO hain, woh inse sahi bartav nahin karte hain. Woh kaisi deshbhakti hai? Inki deshbhakti bharat pakistan ke match pe khatam hoti hai.
Isiliye jab ye road pe nikalte hain to kelewale ke saath badtamizi se baat karte hain. Kelawala kehta hai sahab chalis rupaiye darzan bhav hai. Kehtein hat! Tum log loot rahe ho! Tees ka de do. To kelawala jis din mud kar bol dega: tum sabse bade lootere ho, croron loot rahe ho, to keh denge ke ye deshdrohi hai. Aastha amiri aur suvidha se suru hoti hai, amiri aur suvidha pe jakar khatam ho jaati hai.
Main bahut saare ABVP ke doston ko jaanta hun. Main un se poochta hun: ki sach mein tumhare andar mein deshbhakti ki bhavna panapti hai? To kehte hain, bhaiyya kya karein, paanch saal ki sarkar hai, do saal khatam ho gaya hai, teen saal ka talktime bacha hai, jo karna hai isi mein kar dalna hai. To hum bole theek hai kar lo, par yeh bataoe ke JNU ke baare mein jhoot bologe to kal ko tumhara bhi collar koi pakad lega, aur tumhara hi saathi pakad lega, jo aaj kal train main beef check karta hai. Pakad ke tumko lynching karega aur kahega ke tum jo ho desh bhakt nahin ho kyonki tum JNUite ho. Iska khatara samjhte ho? Kehta hai, bhaiyya iska to samjhte hain, isliye to JNU ka jo hashtag bana hai, #shutdownjnu, uska virodh kar rahein hain. Humne kaha bahut badhiya hai bhai sahab! Pehle JNU hashtag ke liye mahaul banao, phir uska virodh karo kyunki rehna to JNU mein hi hai na.
Isiliye main aap tamam JNu ke logon se kehna chahta hun ki abhi chunav hoga march mein aur ABVP ke log Om ka jhanda laga ke aap ke paas aayenge, to un se poochiyega ke hum desh drohi hain, hum jihadi atankvadi hain, hamara vote lekar tum bhi atankvadi ho jaoge. Tab ve kehenge ke nahin nahin aap log nahin hain, vo kuch log the. To hum kehenge, ke vo kuch log the? Ye baat to tumne media mein nahin kahi, tumahar vice chancellor nahin bola, aur tumhara registrar bhi nahin bol raha hai. Aur vo kuch log bhi to keh rahe hain ki hum pakistan zindabad nara nahin lagaye.Voh kuch log bhi to keh rahe hain ki hum atankwad ke paksh main nahin hain. Wo kuch log bhi to keh rahe hain ke hamara permission de kar permission cancel kar diya, yeh hamare democratic rights ke upar attack hai. Par itni baat, inke palle padni wali nahin hai.
Lekin mujhe pura bharosa hai ke yahan ye jo log itne short notice pe aaye hain, unke palle pad raha hai, aur vo log is campus ke ek ek student ke paas jayenge, aur unhein batayenge ke ABVP na sirf is desh ko tod raha hai balki JNU ko tod raha hai. Hum JNU ko tootne nahin denge. JNU zindabad tha, JNu zindabad rahega. Is desh ke andar jitne bhi sangharsh ho rahe hain un sangharshon mein badh chad kar participate karega aur is desh ke andar loktantra ki awaz ko mazboot karte hue, azadi ki awaz ko mazboot karte hue, freeedom of expression ki awaz ko mazboot karte hue, is sangharsh ko aage badhayega. Hum sangharsh karenge, jeetenge, aur in sahbdon ke saath, aap sab ka shukriya, inqilab zindabad, jai bhim, lal salaam!
Published in The Hindu today
As over two thousand students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University gathered peacefully on Saturday to protest police action on campus and the arrest of the President of the Students’ Union, a potentially dangerous stampede was set in motion at the front, when at Rahul Gandhi’s entrance, media people with cameras rushed unheedingly into the thickly clustered people seated on the ground. The situation was exacerbated by a further push into that space by about fifteen Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists holding black flags and shouting slogans against Rahul Gandhi. Within seconds, however, the students conducting the meeting had organized a human chain to hold back and corral the media and the ABVP safely into one corner, and the human chain was then immediately taken up by the hundreds of teachers present. Until Rahul Gandhi left, the handful of ABVP activists continued their slogans, but they could only be heard by those seated in their immediate vicinity.
This is how students and teachers have always maintained, through the gravest provocations, perhaps the most peaceful campus in the country. Debate and dissent have always been part of its ethos but never violence, an ethos unfamiliar to those who only know violent suppression of dissent. Continue reading Why our universities are in ferment
February is a beautiful time of the year in Delhi. It inaugurates Basant, spring, the season for love. And it is made more beautiful by an incandescent, insurgent spirit, that spreads in the air like a loving contagion, especially around what the Hindu Right rehearses for months on end to spoil – the new found festival of Valentine’s Day.
Traditionally (or at least since as long ago as the late twentieth century CE), on Valentine’s Day, the loony Hindu right goes looking for lovers in the parks of Delhi and tries to ply its own line in the extortion trade. This time, they have been joined by some big guns. The Delhi police descended on some young people belonging to a theatre group who had stepped out to have tea during a poetry reading at the IGNCA on the grounds that they ‘looked like they were JNU students’. Meanwhile, their boss, the Honorable Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (who deserves a Bharat Ratna all by himself for skills as a performance artist) regaled a press conference with a poker faced comic act – his revelation of the Lashkar e Taiba’s links to the JNU protests on the basis of the discovery of a fake twitter handle. The fact that Rajnath Singh still has his job is because his boss Narendra Modi, our ‘dear leader’, is the chief architect of the ‘Fake in India’ campaign.
One needs love, and laughter, plenty of laughter, to survive these times, and the antics of these men. Over the last two days, it is love, laughter, sorrow and rage, in equal proportion that have been most evident in the JNU campus in Delhi. Their signs were evident again, appropriately, yesterday, on Valentine’s Day. A student population of thousands has been able to transform its rage at the capitulation of the recently appointed vice-chancellor and his cronies to the diktats of an incompetent home minister and his minions in the Delhi Police apparatus into a deep and abiding sense of good humoured solidarity. This is demonstrated by the support that they have readily offered Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of their students union, who is currently detained, facing ridiculous charges of sedition, and several other students, including some JNUSU office bearers, who the police are still reportedly hunting for. The hashtag #StandwithJNU has gone viral, spreading, connecting, bringing people together like the sudden awakening of spring after a cruel winter. What better way can there be of celebrating Valentine’s Day than to declare, en masse, a love for liberty, and for learning?
Continue reading Spring Comes to JNU : Love, Laughter and Rage
While some television channels, through a combination of unethical playing to the gallery (and to the Modi regime), have portrayed ‘JNU students’ as antinational Leftists, Pakistani agents etc, a video has surfaced that has gone viral over social media that allegedly shows identifiable ABVP students shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.
The four students who are seen in the video shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans, have been identified as ABVP activists (one of them has even been identified by name as Shruti Agnihotri), seen leading protests elsewhere in ABVP demonstrations.
It is of course, a question that no one in the electronic media (print was different this time) sought to even ask themselves – as to who would be interested in shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans? This is a purely RSS/ABVP/Hindutva obsession. No Leftist that I know of (and I think I know almost all shades by now) would have any reason to shout something as stupid and meaningless as ‘Pakistan Zindabad’! Now, the exchange below also puts things in perspective.
We do not of course, vouch for the authenticity of this video. We wait to be refuted and to be told that all this is doctored but the point will still remain, as one of the participants in the exchange below states, what a curious coincidence that only Zee News had access to the video that showed ‘students’ shouting pro-Pakistan slogans!
Any enquiry into the incident must take into account this video, investigate its authenticity, and take stern measures if it is proved to be accurate.
In closing, here is an exchange on twitter by ‘BJP Insider’ :
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 