JNU's Kanhaiya Kumar Says He Wants a Job After Submitting his PhD

New Delhi: Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, who was arrested in February 2016 and charged with sedition by the Delhi Police for allegedly raising anti-India slogans, caught national imagination after his release.

While many saw an emerging politician in Kumar, he seems to have some other plans, at least for time being.

In an interview with CNN-News18, Kumar said, he would like to submit his PhD and find a job.

When asked if he would consider electoral politics, Kumar said, “I came to JNU to study. My first task is to submit my PhD. Electoral politics has an established design… If you are the son of a minister, you can pay someone to manage your Twitter handle and become a minster…the social experience and how we can deliver in politics is important to me.”

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed in creating two crore jobs as promised before 2014 polls, and controversies are being stoked to “divert the country’s attention from the failure on economic level”.

“People working in companies like Cognizant and earning a lakh a month, living in 3BHK flats in Gurgaon have lost their jobs… the government is trying to shift focus from this reality,” he said.

Calling the JNU controversy a planned conspiracy to “create a pseudo enemy”, he said, “JNU is the most nationalistic institute as it provides opportunity to the most unprivileged.”

Kumar said India needs “non-electoral political intervention” as the country lacks a social movement.

“FTII students couldn’t remove Gajendra Singh but the message is clear: This government wants to curb institutions. We could not get the Rohit Act passed but a message was circulated that there’s caste-based discrimination in top institutes… these incidents could culminate into a movement.”

Kumar said India’s response to colonialism was based on truth and non-violence. But today, the “violent instincts are being instigated”.

“Issues like building the Ram Mandir, who should love whom, and what to eat are being made important,” he said.