Man Tries To Strangle Kanhaiya Kumar On Jet Airways; Airline Takes "No Action"

MUMBAI: Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union President Kanhaiya Kumar -- who has faced myriad threats to his life -- was reportedly almost strangled by a passenger aboard a Jet Airways flight today. Kumar identified the assaulter as Manas Deka, a TCS worker.

In a series of tweets, Kanhaiya Kumar recounted the incident, specifically drawing attention to the fact that the Jet Airways crew took no action against the alleged assaulter. Instead, it seems at the time of writing, that both Kumar and Deka were asked to deplane the flight.







Kanhaiya Kumar had just delivered in speech in Mumbai, where speaking about various issues facing the country, he said that he had great respect for India’s Prime Minister.



Various right wing groups had threatened to not allow Kumar’s speech to take place, with the Veer Sena catapulting to the limelight after its leader Niranjan Pal confused Kumar’s field of study and said, “We know that he (Kanhaiya Kumar) is pursuing his PhD from JNU and he is threatening to break the nation to pieces. How can a person like him serve the patients who will approach him after he becomes a doctor?... I do not know how will he provide service to his patients, diagnose them and carry out operations."

Kumar is no stranger to threats of violence, with his security (along with co-accused Umar Khalid) being tightened after Delhi police received an anonymous letter from an abandoned bag in a bus, which threatened to decapitate Kumar and Khalid's head for spreading “anti-national sentiments.”

Earlier, in March, Sanjay Rathod, IT cell convener of BJP’s Junagadh unit, took to Twitter to make an open threat and offer a bizarre “solution” to the controversy over the arrest of several Jawaharlal Nehru University students. “Shoot Anti National JNU students & Proff and close the chapter. But the problem is that Our Govt doesn’t allow to kill Dogs #WakeUpIndia,” Rathod tweeted, only to later delete the tweet.



Rathod’s tweet came just a day after police arrested a man allegedly behind posters offering a Rs. 11 lakh bounty for Kanhaiya Kumar. Adarsh Sharma, who claims to be President of an organisation he calls the Purvanchal Sena, stuck the incidianary poster across the capital city. The poster said, "Whosoever shoots JNU Students' Union president and seditionist Kanhaiya will be rewarded Rs. 11 lakh on the behalf of Purvanchal Sena." It carried the mobile number and name of Adarsh Sharma, identifying him as the president of Purvanchal Sena.



Further, BJP youth wing leader, Kuldeep Varshney, offered Rs. 5 lakh to anyone who cut off Kumar’s tongue. Varshney was, however, expelled from the primary membership of the party for six years following the comment.