Mumbai, New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president, Kanhaiya Kumar, alleged on Sunday that a passenger tried to strangle him on board a Mumbai-Pune flight, but the airline refused to act against the attacker.
In a series of tweets, Kumar said the passenger attacked him inside the aircraft 9W 618 when it was due to depart Mumbai.
When he brought it to the notice of the Jet Airways staff, they offloaded him and the alleged assailant who was detained by security.
Kumar said he left for Pune by road for his scheduled engagement in the city.
The airline said: “Some guests on board this morning’s flight Jet Airways fight 9W 618 Mumbai-to-Pune have been offloaded at Mumbai airport in the interest of operational safety.”
The JNUSU leader said: “Yet again, this time inside the aircraft, a man tries to strangulate me.
“After the incident, Jet Airways staff completely refuses to take any action against the man who assaulted me.
“Basically, Jet Airways sees no difference between someone who assaults and the person who is assaulted. They will deplane you, if you complain,” he said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister of State for Home, Ram Shinde, said there had been no attack on Kanhaiya.
“The police report says that fighting between two passengers led to scuffle. Kanhaiya’s allegations [are] baseless,” Shinde said.
Pune Police have further tightened security for Kumar during events in the city.
The student leader was arrested on sedition charges on February 12 after allegedly raising anti-India slogans at the JNU campus. He was granted bail after police failed to produce any evidence to back the charge.
And Kumar, who had earlier ruled out campaigning in West Bengal and Kerala Assembly polls, has now decided to campaign (during the May 16 elections in Kerala) for a JNU comrade — Mohammad Muhassin — who is the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate for Pattambi seat in Palakkad. Of the move, the 29 year old said: “He has stood by me, so I decided to hit the campaign trail,” he said.
Muhassin is a student at JNU’s School of Social Science (SSS) and is about to complete his PhD in Adult Education. He is also the vice-president of JNU’s unit of All India Students Federation (AISF), which is also the student wing of CPI.
Kumar, who is the first AISF member to be elected JNUSU president, was arrested in February in a sedition case over an event on JNU campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which antinational slogans were allegedly raised.
Muhassin, was among those who led the protest for Kumar’s release.
“I still maintain that mainstream politics is not my calling and I have no intention of joining it. I still plan to stick to my goal of being a teacher, but with Muhassin it was different. He has stood by JNU, stood by me all the time, I couldn’t refuse him,” he said.
“And not only me but the entire AISF unit of JNU will support him. Besides, the JNU unit of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) will also travel to Kerala to campaign for him,” he added.
Asked about the campaigning schedule, Muhassin told PTI over phone from Kerala, “Kanhaiya, along with the IPTA group and JNU students, is expected to be here in the second week of May. He also plans to go to Patna before that where he will address a public meeting. He may also visit his family during the same trip.”
After the electrifying speech Kumar delivered on his return to the campus from jail, the CPI-M General secretary, Sitaram Yechury, had said the student leader would be campaigning for Left parties in the Assembly polls.
However, he later stated that Kumar would not travel to Kerala and West Bengal to campaign, citing the bail conditions and other issues. Kumar had also ruled out campaigning.
Kumar had campaigned in south Delhi during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and in Begusarai, when his home state Bihar voted last year.
