JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar writes open letter to PM Modi

New Delhi, June 14: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar on Monday, June 13, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, targeting him on a range of issues.

Saying that "a situation of emergency has been created in every university", Kumar in his Facebook page wrote the open letter to Modi asking him: "Is this the situation that you were promising when you were chanting the slogan of 'Achche Din' across the length and breadth of the nation?"

"You (Modi) have handed the reins of our temples of learning into the hands of those who are not just averse to knowledge, but also determined and proven opponents of history, art, culture and logic," the JNUSU President wrote.

Kumar accused Modi for returning favours to those who financially paved his ascent to power.

Kumar said that no new jobs have been created, farmers are killing themselves, poor are increasingly becoming poorer, students can't afford to study, those who do make it to the various universities face caste-based humiliation and discrimination.

"Brilliant students are forced to hang themselves from fans. Or else they are raped and/or murdered. And if by some miracle they manage to save themselves from such vile acts then their fellowships are stopped in order to deter them pursuing higher studies," he mentioned in his letter.

He added that even the basic rights of teachers and workers have been targeted forcing them to come out on the streets and protest against the system and getting arrested.

"It seems that a situation of emergency has been created in every university," he wrote.

The open letter targets the Prime Minister with words that "the country won't change by changing the meat or the video. The nation will be transformed when the condition of its people are improved."

Kumar said that under Modi's regime, things have only gone from bad to worse.

Kumar asked: "Had you (Modi) delivered development in the last two years, you would not have to spend crores of rupees to advertise it."

He said that the apparent reality is that Modi has done nothing to improve the lives of the people.

"I question you here as a student. You spend Rs 200 crore on advertisements, but you don't have Rs 99 crore for non-NET scholarships for the research scholars," Kumar said.

"You have thousands of crore of rupees to buy battle tanks, but you don't have money to pay minimum wages to workers. You have thousands of crores of rupees for air trips but you can't give farmers fair minimum support prices for their crop."

He claimed Modi's policies seem like "a series of misfortune for the common masses".

Kumar said the "next generation" will ask Modi why he remained silent on the issue of ministers spreading hatred against a particular community, ministers framing false cases against students on the basis of fake tweets.

"Why were you silent when meat samples were switched and communal venom was being spread? The main question is -- whether you have been elected to bring development or to strengthen those who spread hatred and violence," the letter questioned.

He also accused Modi of forgetting the issue of price rise and inflation in the Indian economy, citing one of the taglines of his election campaign -- "Bahut hui mahangai ki maar, Abki baar Modi Sarkar".

"You (Modi) mocked Manmohan Singh for his silence. But neither do you speak for us. And when you do speak, it is not for the impoverished masses of this country, but for America, where lawmakers give you a standing ovation," Kumar wrote in the letter.

IANS