New Delhi: Terming 'Bharat band' a "protest to save India", Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday said it was not organised by Left parties alone as the day-long protest had people from every section of the society.
Talking to ETV Bharat here, Kumar, also a former student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) which recently witnessed violence, said the Bharat band was a one-day strike by farmers, students, workers, traders and people from other walks of life.
"Our's was a peaceful protest. Our motto is don't be silent and don't be violent," he said while talking about the day-long band, which partially affected work in the country.
"Economy is down, there is no employment and issues such as CAA, NCR and NPR brought people together and the protest became a general agitation against the government.
On being asked to comment on violence in JNU campus, Kumar defended the Left affiliated group in the university, saying students associated with the All India Students Federation (AISF) could not have beaten the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) students as they are from the ruling party.
"Only powerful would indulge in violence," he opined, adding they (BJP) have over 300 seats in parliament and it's their people who indulge in violence. He said the JNU violence was a 'political conspiracy' as the BJP, using ABVP, wants to divert attention from main issues during election time in Delhi. Kumar, who contested Lok Sabha election in 2019, also criticized Vice-Chancellor of the JNU, saying he was a "puppet of the BJP". "He is there to destroy the university," Kumar charged.
