The “Liberal” class is ecstatic on the heroics of Kanhaiyya
Kumar. Fascinated by his Elvis Presley moves while sloganeering for Adaadi. His
unusually innocent face at the age of 28 and full of rustic Bihari charm.
But how many of them remember another Bihari JNUSU president
Chandrasekhar Prasad (or Chandru). Born in Siwan, in a poor family from a backward
caste. Following his initial education in Siwan, he studied at the Sainik
School in Tilaiya, he joined the Indian National Defence Academy, but soon left
it because he wanted to be a political activist. He joined the Patna University
before joining JNU. He was elected to the JNU students union election three
times in a row, first as Vice- President, then as President for two successive
terms.
He moved back to his hometown and had started a campaign
against corrupt and criminal leaders of the region, a stronghold of RJD MP
Mohammad Shahabuddin. One day while campaigning, Chandru was brutally killed by
the sharpshooters allegedly in the employ of Shahabuddin. The case was handed
over to the CBI and the killers were nabbed. One of the accused, Dhruv Jaiswal,
was nabbed from the RJD MP's home. Finally in 2012, the CBI court sentenced
three persons to life imprisonment. The RJD MP could not be found linked to the
killing.
Today Shabuddin is in Jail for other crimes but still is the
supreme commander of RJD in and around Siwan. His wife Heena Shahab was the RJD
candidate in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Congress is in alliance with the RJD and
are in power in Bihar. Left parties are looking more than keen to get Lalu and
Congress as their allies.
We have heard the Kanhaiyya speech. There he passionately
says that only 31% people had voted for the fascist Modi and the rest didn’t. So,
he has counted the votes that Heena Shahab got in Siwan and RJD got in general
as the so called secular and liberal votes. This is his real Satyamev Jayate. Killers
of his former comrade are his present day allies.
We may also recall that as soon as the news of Chandru’s
murder reached Delhi, JNU students had laid seize to the Bihar Niwas in Delhi
where RJD chief Lalu was staying. The students were lathicharged and a few shots
were also fired by the BMP deployed there. Nobody refers to those atrocities as
black spot on the history of Indian democracy.
Nobody remembers a student leader Chandru, who was a good
student first and a leader next. JNU used to attract a much better pool of
talent during his time than the pile of garbage it does now. Chandru learned how
to fight the evils of politics in JNU and was killed while experimenting with
his learnings. He was never a loudmouth dying to hog into media limelight. He lies
forgotten today because it is inconvenient for the Left Liberals to remember
him. It will break the political alliance against Modi. It will create an unnecessary
situation where Left will be asked why it never persisted on a fair and
complete trial of one its “Comrades” during the UPA regime. This is the
Satyameva Jayate of the Leftist ideology.
In the midst of this madness, Chandru’s mother leads a
lonely and secluded life in Siwan. Her disappointment with the left was covered
by Tehelka; you may read it before the current brigade of freedom fighters for
expression get it erased.
You may hate Modi and want him to lose. But for the sake of
it you have created a Shah Bano moment. Advani had leveraged Shah Bano and had steered
the first big growth for the BJP. Only time will tell how much Modi has learnt
from his onetime Guru.
