Why is Delhi Police not filing charge sheet, asks Kanhaiya

Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar today questioned the police (referring to the Delhi police) as to why a charge sheet has not been filed against him even after 11 months of "framing" of sedition charges.

"I want to ask you Modiji, why the police has not yet filed a charge sheet against me although 11 months have passed? Why did the police not object to the bail given to me?" Kumar, who was in the city to extend his support to the agitating contractual sanitation workers, said.

He wanted to know, "Why others who attended the meeting (rally called to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru) have not been booked and put behind bars."
 

"Yes, I raised slogans, but not against the country...But I raised it against Modiji and RSS and will do so in future too," said Kumar, who was arrested in February 2016 on charges of sedition for holding an event at the JNU campus to protest against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

Attacking the Modi government, Kumar said, "We will tell people of the country about the tall promises you (PM Modi) made to the countrymen and then backed out."

Terming demonetisation as a "failure", Kumar said, "Ever since demonetisation has been imposed on the country, the suicide cases among farmers have gone up by over 42 per cent, over 20 lakh people have lost their means of livelihood and over 100 people have lost their lives."

"Apart from this, over 97 per cent scrapped notes came back into the coffers, so where has the black money gone. This (demonetisation) was only for a handful of rich people in the country, while common man was dying in the queues," Kanhaiya said.

Kumar demanded that contractual sanitation workers in all the municipalities in the state be made permanent by the civic bodies and wanted the government to implement provisions of the minimum wages for them as propounded by the apex Court.

Dalit rights activist from Gujarat Jignesh Mevani, who shared the dais with Kumar, demanded justice for lakhs of contractual workers of the civic bodies across the country.

Mevani said, "Demands of sanitation workers are not taken sincerely. Everywhere in India, these contract safai workers have to work under inhumane conditions without safety, social security and minimum wages.