PRAGOTI

Dhananjay Tripathi, former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union writes about the impasse that has resulted in no elections to the JNUSU for the past two years in the university. His plea- "There is need from the part of the government to look into matter of JNUSU elections and to save it from being ruined. It is imperative that the student community of JNU should also explore all the possibilities to re-conduct their elections according to the JNUSU constitution without further delay". An article that details the controversy over the Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations and the JNUSU elections can be found here (subscription required). 

Two years are now passed with no election of the student union in Jawaharlal Nehru University. This is the university which has the distinction of having an active student union even during the days of emergency when all types of democratic activities were either banned or suspended. The JNU student union also has the distinction of producing some national political leaders which are now in every political party.  There is a projection that JNU is only producing the left political leaders and is the bastion of red forces in the Indian campus.  It is true that in the contemporary left politics two of the tallest leaders Mr. Prakash Karat and Mr. Sitaram Yechury were student leaders of JNU.  At the same time it is also true that Mr. Devi Prasad Tripathi ( General Secretary Nationalist Congress Party and Chief Spokesperson), Mr. Digvijay Singh ( Former Union Minister, Member of Parliament – Independent) Mr.  Ashok Tanwar (President- Youth Congress and Member of Parliament) are some of the names who are not in the left parties but still known all over the India as some of the big political personalities. The student activists of JNU are not only in political arena; but numbers of them are in media, in academics, and in other fields. To name few of them are Prof. Anand Kumar (Professor in JNU), Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy (Prof in JNU), Prof. Amitabh Mattoo (Ex- VC Jammu University, and professor in JNU), Prof. Pranay Krishna Srivastav (Allahabad University), Amit Sen (Media person), Ashutosh (Editor- IBN – Hindi news).

When the student union election in other North Indian campuses was lumpenised and was hijacked by political mafios and made devoid of student politics, it was the JNU student union where despite a ban on elections, national, international, and genuine student issues are debated at dhabas over a cup of tea. Late night public meetings on socio-political issues are a common feature of day to day life in JNU. One will amazed to see that every student of JNU has some of other opinion on political issues and also all of them are equally concerned for their studies.  The old JNU student union’s slogan ‘Study and Struggle’ is totally imbibed by the student community and this is also been supported by the teachers in which majority of them are friendly with the student community with no hierarchy but at the same time there is a decent teacher-student relations.

The student activities in JNU are not limited only upto debates, public meetings, and discussions but there are many concrete achievements of JNU student movement. Even if we will just look at the last two decades there are many accomplishments which explain the commitment of the JNU students union towards the genuine student cause. It was due to the vibrant student culture that progressive institutions like Gender Sensitizing Committee against Sexual Harassment   (GSCASH), and Equal Opportunity Office (EOO), are established, low fee structure, scholarship for all the students from deprived section is available in JNU. This is interesting to note that in the neo-liberal era when fee hike is the common feature of the higher education, government despite intention failed to implement any such policy in JNU.

There are bureaucrats blaming it to the rude and dogmatic student community which fails to see the reality, but it is far from true. JNU students in majority consist of those who come from economically deprived backgrounds. These students are well aware of the fact that with the hike in fee, others from their section will never be able to sustain themselves in JNU. In a nation where more than 70 percent of the India population are compelled to survive on less then 20 Rupee per day (see Arjun Sen Gupta Report) the soaring fee in the institution of higher learning is criminal and not according to the correct assessment of the ground reality. Thus, for the bureaucrats JNU student are living in island but for these youth they know their country better then anyone else. This is the reason why JNU student dream of changing the society for making it a better place to live for everyone. The vision of education for all even compelled the JNUSU President from Akhil Bhartiya Vadarithiya Parishad to lead an agitation against the proposal of then Human Resource Development Minister Mr. Murli Mnohar Joshi to introduce short term commercial courses in JNU.

It is unfortunate and disgusting that the best student movement of the country is now facing an unprecedented ban for no fault of its own. The Lyndogh committee report which was intended to ameliorate student politics finally led to the halt of student politics in JNU. It is an irony that even the Lyndogh committee itself praised the JNU student politics and termed it ideal for the entire nation. The most disturbing part of the story is that now the JNU student union elections has to wait some judgment form the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. Nobody even bothered to underline the fact that JNU student union elections are not conducted by the JNU administration but by the student themselves and has no history of violence and act of any misconduct during the elections. The ban on JNU student union election is a ban on the right to association- a fundamental right in any democratic society.  There is need from the part of the government to look into matter of JNUSU elections and to save it from being ruined. It is imperative that the student community of JNU should also explore all the possibilities to re-conduct their elections according to the JNUSU constitution without further delay.