I don't support anti-national activities, says Kanhaiya

Student organisations come out in his support

In his handwritten statement, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday denounced the ‘anti-national’ sloganeering and expressed his belief in the Indian Constitution. 

“I am an Indian and I don’t support anti-national activities. I condemn the February 9 event which happened at the JNU,” Kanhaiya said. 

He was arrested last week for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during an event on the JNU campus against the “judicial killing of Afzal Guru”.

“I believe in the integrity and unity of the country,” Kanhaiya said, alleging that those who shouted anti-national slogans included “some people from JNU and a section of outsiders”. 

His lawyers handed out his statement to the media, as his judicial custody was extended till March 2. 

Earlier on Wednesday, leaving aside their ideological differences, nearly a dozen student organisations came together and demanded the immediate release of JNU Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar. Kumar has been slapped with sedition charges.

Completion of inquiryLeft student outfits and Congress student wing NSUI jointly said all sections of society should wait for completion of inquiry into JNU row and not indulge in “character assassination” of the university. 

“We condemn the anti-national slogans that were raised during the event but who did that is a matter of investigation. Let the inquiry takes it course. Do not character assassinate the entire university by branding it as anti-national,” said SFI general secretary Vikram Singh while addressing a joint press conference. 

NSUI national vice president, Kumar Raja said, “If the entire University is anti-national, then its alumini including Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, CBI Director Anil Sinha and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman are also anti-national.” The news conference addressed by leaders from student outfits likes All India Students’ Association (AISA) of CPI (ML), Students Federation of India (SFI) of CPI (M), All India Students Federation (AISF) of CPI, National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) of Congress, Student Forum For Swaraj (SFS) and Chatra Janta Dal (United).

“Slogans cannot be used as an excuse to crackdown on JNU. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of JNUSU President Kanhaiya and the immediate withdrawal of false charges on all JNU students,” a joint statement of these students organisations said.

Claiming that “RSS and BJP government are hellbent on destroying and maligning JNU”, they said the campaign would be intensified in future.