How a sedition case put NE Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar on the political map

Congress leader and North East Delhi candidate Kanhaiya Kumar shot to fame as the president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union in 2016, but not for a good reason.

He was arrested, prosecuted and cleared of all charges in a sedition case, all over an 'azadi' speech he made in campus.

The speech and the subsequent 'persecution' put 'Communist' Kanhaiya on the political map.

How did all of it begin?

In 2016, former DSU members organised a cultural event to protest what they called the 'judicial killing' of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat. The students claimed Afzal Guru was wrongly framed in the case, and sentenced to death.

The students gathered 'in solidarity' with many Kashmiris who they allege were wrongly accused, harassed and even killed on a day-to-day basis.

To a packed auditorium, Kanhaiya Kumar made a rousing speech, calling for not just 'freedom from India', but also 'freedom within India'. Slogans like 'Bharat ki barbaadi tak jung rahegi, jung rahegi', 'India, go back', and 'azaadi' were raised.

Soon after, a clash took broke out between DSU and ABVP members, who were opposed to the event.

Kumar, along with Umar Khalid (in jail over the Delhi riots case since 2020), and eight others were charged with sedition for allegedly raising anti-India slogans during the protest.

Some doctored clips of the event, that were doing rounds on social media, were picked up by some news channels, spelling more trouble for Kumar and his co-accused.

Kanhaiya spent at least 26 days in prison. However, his voice tested negative in forensic tests of the clips with alleged anti-India slogans.

The accused were cleared of all charges in court.

Kumar later joined Communist Party of India (CPI) and contested from Bihar's Begusarai in the 2019 general election. He lost against BJP candidate and Union Minister Giriraj Singh.

He joined Congress in 2022, and has now been pitted against BJP's Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi.

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