Play

Kanhaiya Kumar's uncle and brother addressed a gathering at Jawaharlal Nehru University on Monday night. In the video above Kumar's uncle says he has come from Bihar to lend support in this revolutionary movement – that the fight is not just JNU's but the entire nation's.

"You have brought together not just India's intellectuals but intellectuals from all over the world to this debate," he says. Calling this an ideological battle against poverty, against manuvaad, he says this is not an ordinary fight and will only get harder; that besides Kanhaiya being termed "anti-national" there's a plot to term other members of the University anti-national too.

He also raises the question of why Prime Minister Modi has maintained his silence on this issue. When the members of a family have fought for the nation, why is their son being termed anti-national, he asks.

Kanhaiya Kumar, the JNU Students' union president, has, along with four other students, been charged with sedition for slogans ostensibly raised during a cultural meet-turned-protest held on February 9 to mark Afzal Guru's hanging.

Describing their meeting in jail, his brother says that Kanhaiya Kumar has assured him that he didn't say anything that would shame JNU, his family or the natio,n and that they have nothing to worry about. "It felt as if we were in jail, and Kanhaiya had come to console us," he jokes.

In the video below, Kanhaiya's elder brother Manikant Singh recounts childhood stories, pointing out how Kanhaiya has always been a thoughtful child, adding that it is ironic that Kanhaiya, who began each of his essays with a line about loving one's country, has been termed anti-national.

Play