Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar’s is a star, thanks to the ‘Azadi’ slogan that has become the hallmark of the #standwithjnu movement.
But, the slogan is not his original!
The slogan was initially popularised in India by a well-known Indian feminist Kamla Bhasin during the women’s movement to oppose patriarchy and injustice against women.
Bhasin, then in her 40s, adapted the slogan from Pakistani feminists and raised the "Meri behane maange Azadi” slogan in 1991 at a conference in Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
Bhasin chanted the slogan with a group of women – “Meri behane maange Azadi / meri bachhi maange Azadi / naari ka naara Azadi ... (My sisters want freedom / my daughter wants freedom / every woman’s slogan is freedom).”
She then goes on - "Azadi; from all the hierarchy: Azadi; from endless violence: Azadi; from helpless silence: Azadi.”
WATCH VIDEO of Kamla Bhasin reciting "Meri bhaane maange Azadi" during 'One Billion Rising from South Asia', New Delhi (2013) -
