Hyderabad: The shoe aimed at JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar missed the target and fell near the stage, All India Students Federation activists and others in the audience at Hyderabad Central University caught hold of the youth and thrashed them, even as Mr Kumar asked them to leave the youths alone. The youths raised anti-Kanhaiya and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogans.
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Police rushed into the auditorium and whisked them away to the police station. They were identified as Naresh Kumar and Pavan Kumar.
“Rohith’s fight does not pertain to a university. The fight is to end untouchability, remove the gap between rich and poor and attempts to create a wedge between us. Whether its Marxists, Ambedkarite, Socialist, Lohiyait or Centrist, all sections of people are under attack today. Because there is an attack on freedom in this country,” he said.
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He added, “I thank Modi Ji and his police since they gave us publicity. And now some people want to gain publicity by attacking me. Let them take publicity. This is Gandhi’s country. Do whatever you want; you will not have a Godse temple. It’s not possible. This is Bhagat Singh’s country, he said inquilab could be achieved in a peaceful manner, but not by throwing chappals and stones.”
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“Are we doing politics or is the government is doing politics? The government has a pre-planned script to destroy autonomy of universities... The precise work of universities, intellectuals is to promote critical thinking,” he said.
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“There is a difference between ‘desh bhakti’ and ‘Modi bhakti’. Some people are trying to establish ‘Modi bhakti’ as ‘desh bhakti’,” he said.
Charging that there was a conspiracy to pit soldiers against the students, he said soldiers, farmers and students like Rohith Vemula are martyrs and that they cannot be fought against each other.
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He said “Jai Sri Ram” was a political slogan while “Ram Ram” was cultural. He pointed out that the song in the film Baiju Bawara, Man Tadpath Hari Darshan Ko Aaj, which is played in temples, was written, set to tune and sung by Muslims. “Bharat Mata is not saffron. It has seven colours like a rainbow,” he said.
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“I will not stop the Rohith issue if I am stopped from going into the university. I will come to Hyderabad again,” he said.
