A night before the JNU student union presidential election debate was to be held in September last year, the All India Students Federation (AISF) was quite sure to bag at least the key post of Student Union's General Secretary. It was however Kanhaiya Kumar's rousing speech that drove AISF ahead of the powerful All India Students Association (AISA), making him the first ever JNU president from the student wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI). The ABVP, according to many of Kanhaiya's friends, was out of the race the moment Kanhaiya was done with his first sentence.
"He (Kanhaiya) was always good at debates, even in college. He had such a soft corner for the poor and downtrodden of the country and the passion with which he spoke about them, one could easily see how sincere he was. He once told me that words come to him naturally when he talks of the poor," said Amit Kumar, the national secretary of AISF and a friend of Kanhaiya's from the last 12 years.
Amit met Kanhaiya during an AISF event in Patna and immediately took a liking for the Begusarai resident who himself took pride in his family's rich communist history.
His father was paralysed and his mother an anganwadi worker. But both of his parents have had a history of fighting for the rights of farmers. His uncles too are known figures in their village for taking tough stands against Zamindari system.
Kanhaiya had studied in RKC High School in Barauni before joining College of Commerce in Patna in 2004 and according to Amit, Kanhaiya was the overjoyed when he came to pursue his education in JNU. "He told me that he had come to the right place to work for the people," Kumar said adding, "I don't think he ever thought of becoming a student leader. All he wanted was to work for the people. His humble background is what made him."
But Kanhaiya did become the president and for his friends Arun Oraom, to forget the night of the presidential debate is impossible. "I am relatively new to AISF and I had heard so much about his speeches but witnessing that night was something else".
Shashi, who belongs to AISA, admits that his own student body was well aware of what Kanhaiya was capable of.
Piyus
h Ranjan Jha, who came in touch with Kanhaiya in JNU, said he would take pride in the fact that that his village, Bihat, is also referred to as mini Leningrad, a region which has gone down in history as one of the bloodiest confrontation between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. "The night of presidential debate everyone saw that spark and obviously those who want to oppress people were intimated by what they saw."
This week, it was the same words that would be questioned by the ABVP who subsequently accused him of being an anti-national. Kanhaiya was arrested the next day but interestingly, the ABVP is not sure if Kanhaiya's arrest has helped their cause. "He has been made into a hero. People have no idea who Kanhaiya is. He will emerge more powerful. He will emerge as a hero," said Akash Yadav, an ABVP member. And Yadav might be proven right. If Kanhaiya is granted bail on Monday, JNU inevitably will give him a hero's welcome.
"Almost in all his speeches he would use humour to connect with his audience. He (Kanhaiya) would also quote his favourite poet Dushyant Kumar. 'Kaun Kehata Hai Aasman Mein Suraakh Nahi Ho Sakta, Ek Patthar Toh Tabiyat Se Uchalo Yaaro'," another friend of Kanhaiya said before disappearing into the 2000 strong crowd gathered in JNU to support their leader.
