Shatrughan Sinha gets fired up about the violence being perpetrated against students in general and Kanhaiya Kumar in particular
Subhash K Jha (DNA; February 20, 2016)
Shatrughan Sinha is angry and upset that fellow-Bihari and JNUSU (Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union) President Kanhaiya Kumar is being branded anti-national and seditious without irrefutable evidence. That Sinha invites the wrath of his party members by his rebellious stance, doesn’t overly perturb him. Here he lashes out at the current branding of Kanhaiya as an anti-national...
Your tweet on Kanhaiya Kumar has created a hungama...
Didn’t I do the right thing? Why are we labelling the boy seditious without proof? In The Telegraph dated Feb 16, the full text of what he said, has appeared. There is nothing seditious or anti-national about what he has said.
A section of people have pounced on him.
This is really disturbing. We, as a country, should thrive on the principle of diversity in unity. Ekta mein anekta. In a democracy, everyone has the right to an opinion and to freedom of expression. That doesn’t give anyone the right to say anything anti-constitutional. But Kanhaiya, from what I know, said nothing anti-constitutional. If I am wrong, he should be punished according to the laws of our country.
Define anti-national.
That’s the problem. If he is talking about burning down the nation or destroying our constitution he is anti-national. Otherwise, if he has made careless utterances, gusse mein (in anger), josh mein (in enthusiasm), naadani mein (in naivete), bachpana mein (in his immaturity), then we must understand we are dealing with young impressionable minds that often speak before they think.
Do you think the adminstration handled it properly?
It should have been tackled within the campus. Yeh andar ka maamla hai. The Vice Chancellor should have been more prompt and judicious. He should have taken stern action and rusticated the students found to be indulging in anti-national activities. Why were cops called on the campus? That too, so casually with the VC’s permission?
Are you sympathetic towards Kanhaiya because he’s from Bihar?
Bihar is most definitely my weakness and strength. But this is a matter of justice, not regionalism. I’d have spoken up for Kanhaiya Kumar even if he was from some other state. And let me make it very clear that I am not speaking about the other students. Only about Kanhaiya Kumar. I have no idea about what the other students did or said. That’s a law-and-order situation. Under no circumstance, must we allow anyone to incite violence against our nation. That is not acceptable.
Aren’t you afraid of pissing off your party members?
Life is not an ongoing party (laughs). There are times when one needs to stand by the truth. My strength is my honesty. I’ve lived by my principles. To me, politics is not my profession. I’ve come into politics as a mission. I’ll always practise healthy politics. Even in this matter, some vested interests are hellbent upon criticising me for standing up for the boy.
Kanhaiya Kumar was roughed up in the court premises...
It’s wrong. We belong to a nation that preaches non-violence. And we have violence being perpetrated against journalists and students in the premises of the court right under the watchful eyes of our legal custodians. Kanhaiya is a son from an Indian family. He is an Indian. And he says he is proud to be one. Why shouldn’t we believe him?
A lot of people have stopped listening?
If they stop screaming, they will hear the boy’s protests. I will repeat what the boy said, ‘Please maintain peace and do not get carried away by hearsay.’ I don’t believe in any kind of violence. And violence againt the nation? Never! Not in this life. Lekin woh log hamaare bachche hain. It should have been handled on the campus level. So sad that this is happening at the prestigious JNU, which has given us great leaders and statesmen. Pressing sedition charges against students for activism within the campus shows the failure of the administration, not to mention the overzealousness of police action.