JNUSU leader slams Left for fall in vote base

All India Students’ Federation (AISF) leader and Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar strongly criticised Left parties, particularly the CPI(M), and said that the reasons for the decline of the Left parties was the fact that its leaders have stopped participating in movements on the streets.

“If Left leaders are not being charged with sedition, if they are not being framed and sent to jail, if they are not being beaten up or if shoes are not being hurled at them, I will say that they are not working for the people. They should come out of their comfort zone and fight for the people in the streets,” Mr Kumar said while addressing a convention at Mahajati Sadan organised by AISF — the student wing of CPI.

The AISF leader faced protests from BJP supporters who pelted eggs at him and showed him black flags when he was on his way to Mahajati Sadan. Mr Kumar, however, began his speech at the convention asking AISF supporters not to say anything to the BJP protesters for showing him black flags or throwing shoes at him because it was their democratic right to do so.

Referring to former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat’s comments that the Modi government was showing characteristics of “authoritarianism” and not “fascism”, Mr Kumar said, “There is a veteran CPI(M) leader who is also a former student of the JNU. He said that the Modi government was authoritarian and not fascist. To him I want to say that Comrade, if you do not want to fight anymore, please retire and go to New York. We will fight our battle.”

It was his last speech as JNUSU president as the university goes to polls on Friday.

He further slammed CPI(M) leaders for forging an electoral tie-up with the Congress before the Assembly election, which, according to him, was done to win elections.

“I am not the spokesperson of the CPI(M). This question should be asked to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. My opinion in this context is that to remove someone like Hitler, the Left and Social Democrats need to come together. But such an alliance should not be forged to win elections. It should be forged to fight social injustice,” he said.

He asked Left workers not to follow their leaders but the principles and ideology of the party.

Meanwhile, speaking on the Supreme Court verdict on Singur, he said that what happened at Singur and Nandigram was wrong.

“What happened there was wrong. Land should not be taken forcefully and the government should never mislead farmers against industrialists. But we are not against industries. My opinion is that take the land of farmers but make them shareholders in the industrial unit that is set up,” he said. However, he said in the same breath that no one should take credit for the Singur movement alone.