Misinterpreted on 2002 riots and 1984 violence, says Kanhaiya

Facing flak for apparently suggesting there was a difference between the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Gujarat riots, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday retracted from his position.

Terming both the 1984 and 2002 riots as "state-led pogroms", Kanhaiya Kumar said he was "misinterpreted and misrepresented yet again".

"I have been misinterpreted and misrepresented yet again...Both 1984 and 2002 were indeed state-led pogroms for which justice is still awaited," Kanhaiya Kumar wrote on his social media page.

"There isn't an iota of doubt that Emergency represents one of the darkest periods of Indian democracy. My organization AISF (All India Students Federation) strongly opposed and fought against the state repression during Emergency," he added.

In the post, Kumar also drew parallels between the 1975 Emergency and the present situation while accusing the central government of "carrying forward its fascist agenda".

"The current central government is relentlessly carrying forward its fascist agenda using state power, as visible in the recent authoritarian actions against students and all voices of dissent across the country. What we now witness is unprecedented -- a form of undeclared Emergency," he added.

The student leader on Monday differentiated between the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Gujarat's 2002 anti-Muslim violence, saying the Gujarat violence was carried out through state machinery while the other was caused by mob frenzy.