In his recent interview with The Lallantop, Kanhaiya Kumar spoke about the 2016 Sedition Case against him. Responding to a question by Saurabh Dwivedi, he spoke in detail about how the whole case started and what has gone on around it so far.
He said, “The case started in February 2016. So they have been lying since then even though the first FIR did not even name me. It did not name any JNU student, only masked individuals. Even the JNU Vice Chancellor, who is a supporter of RSS says this. The only reason I was arrested is because I was the president of JNU Students Union. If there is a robbery in the village, will you catch the Pradhaan or the robbers? This is why the case felt false and the court granted me interim bail and then permanent bail.”
Kanhaiya Kumar further added that he kept asking for proof but none has ever been presented so far. He said, “This government imprisons people without any evidence. So if I did something wrong, wouldn’t they have kept me in prison?”
He further alleged that his case has been inactive for years and the only time there is some discussion or activity is around elections. He also spoke about media trials saying, “If someone has committed a crime, the decision will be taken by the country’s court(adalat) and not TV’s ‘Aap Ki Adalat’.”
The 2016 JNU Sedition Case was filed after reports surfaced of anti-India slogans being allegedly raised at JNU. The case became a hot political issue and led to a lot of criticism of the students who were said to be involved and the government’s response. The case also led to Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid gaining national attention, fame and notoriety.
Kanhaiya Kumar is contesting in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections as a candidate from Indian National Congress(INC) in North East Delhi. His main opponent is Manoj Tiwari, the incumbent MP from Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). The voting in his constituency will take place on May 25, 2024. The results for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections will be announced on June 4, 2024.
-Namit Pandey