Indian student leader Kanhaiya Kumar returned to the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, after being released on bail following his arrest on charges of sedition three weeks ago. Kumar's fiery speech at the campus quickly went viral, trending not just in India, but across the world on Twitter.
Kumar was arrested in February for his alleged role in a university event against the execution of Afzal Guru, who had been convicted for the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament. The authorities had charged him with raising "anti-national" slogans.
The subsequent arrest of two other university students sparked off a fierce debate on nationalism within the country and major protests that criticised the government of curtailing dissent and freedom of speech. Kumar was also attacked during a hearing in a Delhi court, but finally released on Mar. 3.
In his speech, the 28-year-old spoke of wanting azaadi or freedom "in" and not "from" India. Nearly 3,000 university students listened the speech, which was also telecast live on numerous national news channels and featured on the front pages of many newspapers. Kumar was also trending on Facebook and Twitter in India yesterday.