Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar on Tuesday came under strong criticism for his remarks that the 1984 anti-Sikh riot was a “mob-led massacre”, while the 2002 Gujarat riots were “State-sponsored violence”.
Kanhaiya’s comments did not go down well even with those who have been his staunch supporters, ever since he was arrested in a sedition case over an event against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.
“Sorry Kanhaiya, you’re badly wrong here. The 1984 Anti Sikh pogrom was just as much sponsored by state machinery [sic],” tweeted Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Politburo member and former JNUSU president Kavita Krishnan.
Sharing a report by the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) on the 1984 riots, Ms. Krishnan further added: “I hope @kanhaiyajnusu and all others read Who Are The Guilty, the report that documents the meticulous planning [sic].”
Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav, also an alumni of JNU, tweeted: “Sorry to disagree again @kanhaiyajnusu Both 2002,1984 were state sanctioned Emergency was closest we came to fascism [sic].”
Speaking at an event in JNU, Kanhaiya had on Monday said there was a difference between the 2002 and 1984 riots as the Gujarat violence was “carried out through State machinery, while the other was caused due to mob frenzy”.
He had also compared the alleged onslaught on varsities with Gujarat riots, alleging that both were carried out “with support” from the State machinery, even as he stressed that there was a fundamental difference between “Emergency” and “fascism”.
Following the criticism however, Kanhaiya said he was “misinterpreted”.
“I have been misinterpreted and misrepresented yet again. There isn’t an iota of doubt that Emergency represents one of the darkest periods of Indian democracy. My organisation, the AISF, is strongly opposed and fought against State repression during Emergency. Both 1984 and 2002 were indeed State-led pogroms, for which justice is still awaited,” he said in a statement.
“The current Central government is relentlessly carrying forward its fascist agenda using State power, as was visible in the recent authoritarian actions against students and all voices of dissent across the country. What we now witness is unprecedented — a form of undeclared Emergency,” he added.
Kanhaiya, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who were arrested in a sedition case over the Afzal Guru event, are out on bail now.
Umar said though they have been released from the confines of Tihar jail, but they continue to face threats.
“A very dangerous situation is unfolding before our eyes. Today, I read a news report which said that some person will come to JNU before April 8 and shoot Kanhaiya and me. While three of us maybe azaadi from the confines of Tihar, in this larger prison that our country is becoming, there is a great deal of danger to our lives. Therefore, there remain great restrictions on our azaadi . Our azaadi to move, go to field, go out with friends and things like that,” he said.
Referring to JNU as a “carnival for demands of freedom”, Anirban threw light on slogans raised in and out of campus ever since the controversial event took place on February 9.
“The debate here is not about national versus anti-national, but between azaadi slogans and those of “ Bharat mata ki jai ”.
“Everybody thinks the azaadi slogans come from the Kashmir Valley, but the truth is it did not emanate either from Kashmir or from JNU, but from Kamla Bhasin’s movement demanding freedom from patriarchy,” he said.
The programme, which was divided in four sessions, saw historians including Irfan Habib, Mridula Mukherjee and Aditya Mukherjee, deliberating upon lives and works of historian Bipan Chandra.
While Prof. Habib spoke of his association and differences on certain points in history with Prof. Chandra, Prof. Mukherjee spoke about his intellectual journey. — PTI
