Kanhaiya Kumar: We are being political even when we think we are not

Kanhaiya Kumar addresses students and activists at Jawahar Lal Nehru University JNU in New Delhi PicAFPThis February India got its most famous student politician Till then the reluctant celebrity was busy leading the studentsrsquo union of Jawaharlal Nehru University in obscurity as is the norm to the world outside But on February 6 after controversial slogans were allegedly made in the campus a case of sedition was built on three students of the university and they were arrestedAfter this people in lawyerrsquos robes assaulted the university faculty members journalists and students outside a New Delhi court and the term antinational became a thing Out on bail in March the students returned to the campus and gave speeches The first speech streamed live reached more people possibly than any previous JNU speech It made frontpage headlines primetime television trended on social media for weeks and Kanhaiya Kumar arrived The boy who made headlinesTill now opinion on Kumar is divided with extremes of the pole often bordering on the ridiculous While some fear that he is conspiring to break the country into parts from the dark alleys of JNU others pin their hopes of revival of the deflated Left parties of India on him Kumar is tired of dismissing such speculations and possibly to make things easy he has put down his thoughts aspirations and life till now in the book From Bihar To Tihar Juggernaut BooksBut we ask him again via a Skype interview what his immediate plans are as hersquos been missing from the news for a while ldquoThis is the last year of my PhD there is backbreaking amount of writing left to dordquo he says We pause and he laughs and says ldquoIf you are asking about my political ambitions I have no aspiration to take part in the mainstream electoral politics right nowrdquo After all this why not One wonders if it is a calculated move to keep his name away from the muck that the word politics has come to be associated with ldquoI have never said that I will not be actively taking part in politics I am in politics even now and I donrsquot think there is anything wrong with thatrdquo he clarifiesAfter the debate on whether there is anything wrong with that heated up earlier this year BJP minister Venkaiah Naidu made a clear statement against students engaging in politics and many others echoed But Kanhiaya smiles againldquoVenkaiah Naidu was a part of a student organisation Heads of some news channels which are going gungho against student politics were also student leaders So it is fine if they do it or anyone becomes a part of their parties but not any other kind of politicsrdquo he explainsBut what is his take ldquoWe are being political even when we think we are not And most often when we think we are not doing anything we are supporting the establishment that has little will to change things for the better by itself Not being a part of politics is as impossible as television without advertisementsrdquo he explainsKumar during a public meeting in Mumbai in April this year PicSayyed Sameer AbediPolitics is not the only allegation against the man who started his journey from a home in a village near Barauni and a life so humble that to afford a single set of school uniform for him was a strain on his family It is alleged that he is against the nation and as JNU has become a ldquobreeding groundrdquo for people like him there have been demands to shut the university itself Kanhaiya is not keen on countering the spread of such theoriesThe real dealldquoInstead we have to expose the people who are spreading such rubbish What their agenda is and who they are The claims are hollow and absurd anywayrdquo he says But what agenda ldquoWhen a government is unable to keep its promises on things that matter like employment food and other such basics it whips up abstract issues around religion and nation It is just to distract from the real thingsrdquo he saysThe PhD student who had at one point wanted to be an engineer but changed tracks as it was too expensive was a fan of Munshi Premchand while growingup He didnrsquot like Western fairytales as he could not relate to them He liked his life in JNU an experience which some students describe as a fairytale In fact he does talk about the romantic relationships of his friends in the campus where it is said that if you were not involved in politics studied hard and fell in love you missed out Did he This time he guffaws ldquoThere has not been any such development in my liferdquo he says