Now, ‘Lal salam’, ‘azadi’ in Tihar too

They were the same slogans that echoed in Tihar that were chanted by Kanhaiya Kumar and his friends at the JNU campus late on Thursday night after he returned to the institute after almost three weeks. 

“Lal Salam” and “azadi” have become the latest slogans for those who watched the enduring speech by Kanhaiya and hailed him as a true leader. Along with the nation, even Tihar watched his speech on television and shouted out ‘azadi’. 

According to sources in Tihar Jail: “As there is a facility given to the inmates to watch television inside the jail, almost all the inmates including under-trials and convicts anxiously watched Kanhaiya’s speech that was telecasted LIVE by all news channels.”

“Late Thursday evening was like a festival in the jail. All inmates were united and were watching the news channels without fighting with each other. And it was an unusual seen inside the Tihar premises as many rivalry gang members are lodged together,” the source added.

Umar Khalid and Anirban were also among the inmates who watched the full speech and applauded when he said: “The inmates along with Khalid and Anirban shouted “Lal Salam” and “azadi” whenever Kanhaiya mentioned these two slogans in his speech.”

“Kanhaiya remained well-behaved and the most-talkative inmate in the jail. Whenever he got a chance to interact with anyone, he indulged in conversations. Initially, he was dis-liked by the inmates but after a few days, he became friends with most of the inmates lodged in Jail No 3,” he said.

On Thursday, when Kanhaiya was released, everyone (inmates) was expecting that he would deliver a speech. “Since 7.30 pm, all demanded to tune into the news channels. At around 10.15 pm, when he started speaking, all the inmates were so excited that they applauded and laughed loudly. 

Meanwhile, a few of them started dancing also, as they were very excited to see him speak so well,” the source in Tihar added.

“A special security arrangement was made inside the premises as there was a possibility that inmates might attack each other, but it turned out to be a happy get-together,” the source further added.