New Delhi : Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar’s book “From Bihar to Tihar” will be simultaneously published in Hindi and English by Juggernaut Books later this year.
The book will tell the story of Kanhaiya’s journey from a village school, his involvement in student politics, his controversial arrest on charges of sedition and its aftermath.
According to Juggernaut, a digital publishing house, the book is also a story of how education encourages debate and questioning can open up young minds to social and political issues that are crucial to the functioning of India’s democracy.
Talking about the book, Kumar said that it will reflect the contradictions of Indian society and the struggles of the youth in the country.
“Bhagat Singh had said it is easy to kill individuals, but you cannot kill ideas. I don’t know where this fight of ours will take us, but I thought our ideas should be permanently etched in history as a book. I want to write about the inherent contradictions of Indian society through my personal experiences and to reveal the hopes, despair and struggles of the youth of this country,” Kumar said.
Born in a modest family in a village in Bihar, the student leader was at the eye of the storm after his bold and eloquent defence of freedom of expression.
He was arrested in charges of sedition and spent 20 days in jail. His fearless challenge of the political establishment also sparked a nationwide debate on patriotism, nationalism and intellectual freedom.
“This will be a defining book of our times. Kanhaiya’s is a voice that everyone should hear and we at Juggernaut are very proud to bring it to the widest possible readership,” says Juggernaut publisher Chiki Sarkar said.
The Juggernaut app is available on the Android platform and will shortly be available on iOS. It will launch its physical list in July 2016, according to a press release from the publisher.