From Azaadi to Arrest: The Rise of Kanhaiya, the Star

Find out what happened when The Quint’s Taruni Kumar met Kanhaiya, the rising star.

I met Kanhaiya Kumar for the first time in September 2015 as he waited with his party members on the Ganga lawns for the JNUSU elections’ presidential debate to begin.

I remember a quiet man, a little self-conscious in front of the camera, sitting with his friends and party members. While most of the other political parties asked their spokespersons to explain their agenda for The Quint’s coverage, he rose from his chair to speak with me himself.

“AISF ka presidential candidate main hi hoon,” he told me with a slight smile and a hint of pride.

Fast forward to several months later and his name is plastered on posters across not only JNU but most of New Delhi. There are entire pages in the newspapers dedicated to JNU that feature his name prominently in every article. Celebrities from every profession in the spectrum are coming out in support of or against Kanhaiya. And he’s ignited a feud with HRD Minister Smriti Irani.

He’s lost that self-consciousness now as he rallies thousands of people with a smile on his face and a slogan on his lips. From JNU student leader to cult figure. Some say Kanhaiya played all the right cards, others say the government and ruling BJP party created the phenomenon that he’s now become.

Did Govt Want Student Movements Se Azaadi?

Despite not being one of the organisers of an event deemed anti-national by the right wing ABVP and its parent BJP, he was arrested. This perceived injustice garnered him immense support. The misinterpretation of his now infamous azaadi slogan and the revelation that some of the videos that emerged from the February 9 event were doctored added to his support base.

That the JNU scandal came close on the heels of a large student movement after the suicide of Rohith Vemula, which was in turn preceded by the Occupy UGC movement, only added more fuel to the fire. It was believed that an attack on JNU was an attempt by a government, plagued by these student movements, to defame student politics. What better way to achieve this than by targeting JNU, the students of which have always been outspoken and deeply involved with nationwide movements and activism for social causes.

Kanhaiya’s repeated bail plea delays and the lawyers’ attack on him while he was in custody only added to the image that the government was afraid of this young student leader. And the fact that the lawyers themselves were arrested with much delay, unlike Kanhaiya’s swift and silent arrest from the JNU campus, and were released on bail in a few hours, seemed to give the attack some sort of implicit legitimacy.

He became a symbol of struggle, an angel-faced young man with a backstory of extreme poverty, pursuing a PhD in a country where many leaders at the highest levels never even made it through school.

Political Lines Being Redrawn?

Thousands upon thousands of people came out onto the streets to protest Kanhaiya’s arrest along with other perceived signs of government oppression. They raised their voices in support of Umar, Anirban, Kanhaiya, Rohith and JNU. Students, teachers, activists, sympathisers – estimates later claimed there were around 15,000 people marching between Mandi House and Sansad Marg in solidarity on 18 February.

But the immensity of the protests was only possible because long standing political lines that have existed in the JNU campus blurred in the face of a threat to the institution. The solidarity march and the protests that followed had banners bearing the names of all the political parties present on the campus, except ABVP.

As Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi and Sitaram Yechury came together across party lines against the BJP, on campus, JNU’s predominantly left wing political parties viewed this as a war against the right wing ABVP and the ruling party.

Kanhaiya’s release, though the cause of much celebration, may begin to redraw those same political lines on campus. As he was not involved in organising the 9 February event, his bail plea, despite the delays, probably faced less opposition than what Umar and Anirban can expect.

While his speeches are fiery, they also carry the political agenda of the AISF. The other three elected members of the JNUSU are from AISA and ABVP. But with ABVP on the other side of this battle, only Shehla Rashid and Rama Naga, both AISA, are at the forefront with Kanhaiya. The dominance of Kanhaiya’s AISF ideology may not be taken well.

Even now, questions have begun about what his future course of action will be to help Umar and Anirban, who still remain in custody and whether the movement for them will be as strong as the movement for Kanhaiya under his leadership.

But these questions and worries will not escape the walls of the closed campus because there can be no rift in JNU’s defences as it faces its detractors. The parties still believe they must show a united front despite ideological differences.

So Kanhaiya will continue to be the leader of the movement for freedom of speech and expression that JNU is fighting. He will continue to be the symbol of dissent against the government. And he will continue to rally the students who chose him as their union president.

And alongside, rumours that he will use his wry wit to campaign for CPI in West Bengal won’t hurt his rise to stardom. If anything, they give him the opportunity to emphasise that his plan is to become a teacher and not aim for political gain, giving his fans another reason to shout:

Haathi, ghoda, palki, jai Kanhaiya laal ki.