An alleged rightwing activist hurled a shoe at Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar when he was addressing a meeting here yesterday.
The incident occurred at Sundraiah Vignan Kendram, as Kumar was beginning his address at a seminar on constitutional rights.
The shoe thrower, identified as Pawan Kumar, raised slogans against the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president and hurled the missile towards him. It, however, missed the target.
Pawan Kumar is an activist of the rightwing Goraksha Samithi organisaton.
Before hurling the shoe, he questioned why Kanhaiya Kumar, who he alleged supports terrorists like Afzal Guru, was being allowed to share the stage. Activists of the All India Students Federation (AISF) and others among the audience caught hold of the show thrower and roughed him up even as Kanhaiya Kumar appealed for restraint.
Police intervened to take custody of the man. Continuing with his speech, Kanhaiya Kumar said that such incidents did not bother to him. “Do whatever you want to do, I am not the one to get scared. My way is the Gandhian way,” he said, adding that his is the fight for freedom of expression.
The student leader wanted to know at whose behest they were resorting to such acts.
Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition last month after anti-national slogans were allegedly raised during a meeting organised in memory of parliament attack convict Guru on JNU campus in New Delhi.
The 28-year-old reiterated that Rohith Vemula, and not Afzal Guru, was his role model.
Vemula, a Dalit research scholar of Hyderabad Central University (HCU), committed suicide in January due to alleged discrimination in the university. Police did not allow Kanhaiya Kumar to enter the university on Wednesday to address students and pay tributes to Vemula.
Speaking at the entrance of the university, he alleged that the government was trying to suppress the voice of students by using canes against them
On the second day of his visit to Hyderabad, Kanhaiya Kumar addressed a seminar and a news conference. He alleged that educational institutions were under attack.
“There is an allegation that we are doing politics. Are we doing politics or is the government doing politics,” he asked.