Kozhikode: “For me, politics is not separate. Politics started for me or against me even before my birth. So when politics decides everything we have to have our own politics,” said Jawaharlal Nehru University students union president Kanhaiya Kumar.
Mr Kumar who was here for a one-day programme organised by All India Youth Federation (AIYF) on Monday in a late-night interview with DC said: "Some say the man is a social animal. But same time human is a political animal too."
On the Sangh conspiracy against JNU and the attempt to impose sedition charges on students, Mr Kumar said the attack was not new.
“It started in February, but the real beginning was much earlier. Subramanian Swami unleashed a campaign against JNU saying it is a hub of anti-nationals, the hub of Naxals, and there should be a BSF company on the campus and the RSS mouthpiece Organizer brought out a special issue against JNU. They always tried to defame JNU," he said.
“When we say we are JNU, it also implicates the fight for justice, equality, against communal fascism and all kinds of oppression. When we speak for nationalism, we also support internationalism. JNU is not just an institution, but it is a name of ideas. For all the progressive movements those who believe in justice, JNU is their voice."
He cited efforts to organise a national movement of students when former HRD minister Smriti Irani stopped fellowship for Dalit students.
"Always JNU is precisely anti-establishment. So when this government came, they started a campaign to shut down the campus," he said.
“Their operation is not new, and our fight is not new. They try to stop us, and we fight back. It is an ideological war. We are fighting it, and we know we are fighting for democracy, and we will win finally.”
