Why does India need defiant, non-conformist but well meaning young rebels like Kanhaiya Kumar?
Prometheus Unbound is a play written by the great romantic poet P B Shelley, about the Greek mythological hero Prometheus who dares to steal fire from the all mighty Zeus – the god of thunder and lightning – and gives it to the mankind for their welfare and progress. For this sacrilegious, defiant and daring act, Prometheus is chained and tortured by Zeus for many years, before he attains freedom. But he never submits to Zeus because he believed what he did was for the good of mankind!
Yes, every age needs non-conformist, well meaning rebels with a cause. More so in a progressive democracy. And let us be clear, dissent is not equivalent to being unpatriotic in a democracy!
Even our constitution permits dissent. Yes, the very basic principles of our Constitution are non-negotiable and sacred. If within the bounds of our Constitution, there are dissenting voices – voices for change – then they have to be given space. It simply can’t be crushed with brute force of the state or the powers that be! That’s why we have a right wing party like BJP coming to power, and we were the first democratic country in the world to have a democratically elected left-communist government in Kerala way back in 1957 under the leadership of EMS Namboodiripad – born to a high class Brahmin family – who were also a big landlord family. But he gave up all his caste legacies and ancestral properties to the party and the poor!
And let us also remember that youths have always led the change for the betterment of India – prior to independence and after it. Krishna was less than 12 years old when he killed Kansa and Rama was less than 40 years when he killed Ravana. Bhagat Singh was only 23 when he was martyred! And Bhagat Singh was no saffron icon as is being made out nowadays. He was a communist – a socialist revolutionary who also became an atheist. It’s also sad that a major attempt has been made to saffornise Bhagat Singh and his legacies!
Bhagat Singh was a communist, socialist and became an atheist. Image source: Wikimedia Commons - So, what’s wrong if Kanhaiya Kumar conforms to communist ideology within the bounds of our constitution?
Yes, every age needs young non-conformist, defiant and yet a progressive rebel like Kanhaiya Kumar, who can take the very idea of liberal democracy forward. Just because he dissents does not make him an anti-national or unpatriotic. Kanhiaya has been faithful to the idea of India and to the Constitution of India. If he was not, believe me, this government would have put him behind bars – never to see the light of the day ever again, a long time back!
Kanhaiya Kumar is a rebel with a cause who wants to reinforce the very idea of India and Indian Constitution. But some people in power just can’t tolerate this. If you need to fight him, fight him on ideas, demolish him by reasons, defeat him in election, but please do not haunt or silence him by misusing the perverse might of the state!
To implicate him in false cases, to torture and crush a rebellious but a progressive and well-meaning spirit like Kanhaiya Kumar just reflects the cowardice and dictatorial mindset of powers that be. That will never neither work nor can be tolerated in our democracy.
Perhaps, the powers would do well if they remember Voltaire’s lines:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”
The above post was first published by the author here.