Cover of Kanhaiya Kumar's book From Bihar to Tihar
I was taken inside the thana and made to sit in a tiny room. Then the questioning started. The man who had brought me here spoke to me politely. But then another cop came in and said very rudely, 'This is your country and you shout slogans against it?'
I found this very strange. When did I shout slogans against the country? I have been shouting slogans against Modi and that's no secret. Had Modi now become the country? By now I was beginning to get the feeling that something was seriously wrong. On what grounds had I been arrested, I asked them. Where was the warrant?
'You'll get the warrant in jail,' he said. 'There, you'll get everything.'
After that he spoke to someone on the phone. He asked if he should arrest me.
After disconnecting his call, he asked for my father's number. I am bad at phone numbers - I don't even remember my own. Luckily I remembered Pitaji's since he had been the first to get a phone at home. Calling my father, the cop told him that I'd been arrested for 'sedition'.
It was the first time someone had spoken clearly about the charge against me. Hearing the words so starkly, I felt worried and emotional for the first time. Thoughts of my family came flooding to my mind. Seeing the look on my face, the officer asked a constable if I had eaten. I hadn't. He gave instructions to feed me. I refused to eat. I said I would go on a hunger strike.
That made no difference to him. He got my belt removed. I was photographed from all angles.
Then I was taken to Safdarjung hospital to have my medical tests done. Before getting me out of the vehicle they covered my face. No medical test was done in the hospital. The police did some paperwork; the doctor wasn't allowed to come near me. I was taken back to the car. The cloth over my face was removed. I was then taken to court.
It was my first time in a courtroom and it looked very different from the movies. Everyone stood up when the judge entered. The police told the magistrate that I was Kanhaiya. I had been shouting slogans against the country and had celebrated Afzal Guru's barsi. This is the charge against him, they said. We need police custody (PC) for five days.
The judge turned to me. I introduced myself and said that the police were lying. I had never shouted slogans against the country. Nor had I organized a programme commemorating Afzal Guru.
The inquiry officer (IO) said they had a video to prove their charge.
I asked the judge to check the facts before believing the police. I had no lawyer. I had been arrested without being informed. Nor had I been shown any warrant. I also said that I had voluntarily accompanied the police to the station.
I'm a student, I said, who has come to JNU to study despite many hardships. I fought for issues; I spoke against the government, but never against the country. This country and its Constitution were mine too.
The judge asked for the video to be shown. I was not present anywhere in it. Slogans were being shouted but these were not the ones that were being shown on TV.
The judge said, 'This boy is not raising slogans. Nor is he in the video.'
Excerpted with permission of Juggernaut Books from From Bihar to Tihar by Kanhaiya Kumar available in bookstores and on the Juggernaut app.