You can hit people on the head with it.

An inanimate carbon rod.

No, Carbon is diamagnetic.

the carbon rod is the medium for conduction of electricity inside the battery

A carbon rod may be an insulator or a conductor. It depends on which allotrope of carbon we're talking about. Electricity can travel through a graphite (carbon) rod easily, but it cannot travel through a diamond rod. Both graphite and diamond are carbon, but the former is a conductor while the latter is an insulator.