New Delhi, March 4: The crowd behind Kanhaiya Kumar hissed. At his first-ever media conference, the student leader had been asked the question that had for the past one month practically halted their lives.

"Do you oppose Afzal Guru's execution?" a reporter asked.

Calming his friends, Kanhaiya said: " Neta nahi hun, sawaal se nahi bhagunga. Aage ja kar teacher banna hain (I am not a politician, so I won't run from questions. I will be a teacher in future, so I can't escape questions)."

Posing a counter-question, he asked: Who is Afzal?

Kanhaiya himself answered the question: "He was a citizen of this country and resident of J&K. The law that punished him gives us right to ask questions."

In the same breath, Kanhaiya added: "Afzal mera icon nahi hain. Mera icon hain Rohith Vemula. Kitne Rohith maaroge, har ghar se Rohith nikalega," (Afzal is not my icon. My icon is Rohith Vemula. How many Rohiths will you kill? From every home, Rohith will step out."

The night before, Kanhaiya had held the campus and many drawing rooms spellbound with a speech that exploded on the collective consciousness of the country.

Freed from Tihar jail this evening, the JNU student leader delivered the speech whose underlying theme was freedom itself: " Bharat se nahin, mere bhaiyon, Bharat mein azadi chahte hain (we don't want freedom from India, my brothers, we want freedom in India)."

The Delhi High Court bail order had put a condition that Kanhaiya has "to make all efforts within his power to control anti-national activities on the campus".

Asked for his reaction to the advice served on him, Kanhaiya said that although he did not think it was wrong to talk about it, he felt like an "idiot" these past few days. " Main kuch idiot ban gaya hun in dinno. Mujhe yaad hain Three Idiots ka scene, jahan Amir Khan paida hone wale bache ko kehta hain, 'andar hi rahe'. Mera bhi haal wohi hain (I feel like an idiot these days. Looking at my situation, I am reminded of the sequence where Aamir Khan in 3Idiots is telling an unborn child that it's better to stay inside the womb)."

Another question was whether he would campaign in Kerala and West Bengal. A step ahead of reporters, he anticipated the question. "I am a student, my work is to ensure that every student is allowed to study like me. So if they stop fellowship, I will protest. If Rohith Vemula is forced to commit suicide, I will protest," he said.

He added: "I have not been voted by this country. I am not PM of this country. I am just an elected students' representative of JNU. They have common problems like bed bugs. First I should fix these problems and fulfil this responsibility. Rest is long way from now," Kanhaiya said.

He addressed the issue of subsidised education that has been widely talked off.

"JNU, which runs on your subsidies, will ensure that your subsidy money is being utilised in the right place. Instead you should ask about your money on bungalows, on cars, on air travels - raise questions on these expenses," he said.

He pointed out that JNU has students from 145 countries. "Out of the 4,500 diplomats, 2,500 are JNU alumni. This is our contribution to the society."

Kanhaiya said: "I want to share something I experienced in prison. I was served food in two bowls. One of them was blue and the other one was red. Now when I saw these two bowls, I was repeatedly reminded that while I do not believe in destiny, that I do not know God either, but something good is sure to happen soon in this country - after all, the red and blue bowls came together on one plate. And that plate seemed like India to me, the blue bowl seemed like the Ambedkarite movement to me and that red bowl seemed like the colour of ... (revolution)."

Kanhaiya did not spare the Narendra Modi government and the BJP.

"The problem is that the government of this country should be the government of this country, not the government of a party or the government of an office. They have to be reminded that the PM is of this country and the education minister is of this country," he said.

Like yesterday's speech, he repeatedly pitted himself against the Prime Minister. "We don't have any personal differences with you, its an ideological difference," he said.

Last night, too, the young man did not shy away from addressing the biggest criticism against the students - that they were insulting the soldiers who are risking their lives on the borders.

" Ek BJP ke saansad ne kaha ki sipahi shaheed hote hain seema par.... Main poochhna chahta hun, kya woh unka bhai hai? Khet mein jo kisan hai woh uska beta hai. Aap uske liye kya karte hain? Woh mera bhai hai, mere pita hain (one MP had said soldiers are being martyred on the borders.... I want to ask, 'Is the soldier his brother?' The soldier is the son of the farmer who toils in the fields. What are you doing for the farmer? The soldier is my brother and the farmer is my father)," Kanhaiya had said on Thursday night.