The student community has played a significant role in directing and participating in issues of national importance. Students, as a political community through student unions, have played a decisive role in churning up debates both about education and issues which relate to society and have been successful in bringing them to mainstream discourse over the years.
In 1929, in a letter addressed by Shaheed Bhagat Singh, he made it clear that the responsibility of the students and youth is to acquire education and be aware of what is happening in society. It is important for the student community to ensure that their role in fighting against injustice should be of utmost importance.
Students in politics have always shaped a significant way or system within society. During the entire period of freedom struggle, students played a historic role in shaping the national temperament. The anti-colonial legacy and political clarity for a country where citizens would be free and equal shaped the struggle of student politics post-independence. Almost 49 years ago, when the Internal Emergency was declared – a direct attack on democracy, which ushered in an authoritarian regime which suspended civil liberties, jailed opposition leaders, imposed press censorship, and amended the Constitution to introduce draconian laws – the student community across the country came out in large numbers to resist such a draconian step. The image of Sitaram Yechury, former JNUSU President, reading out the resignation letter for Indira Gandhi, the then PM, in front of her residence holds the powerful image of resistance by the student community.
Even in the latter half of the 1990s, the role of students in the fight for gender-just spaces has been immense. The incident of Bhanwari Devi stirred up the debate of framing anti-sexual harassment policies in the workspace, the fight for gender sensitisation bodies in educational institutions was a major victory which came through student-led protests.
The last 10 years have witnessed an unprecedented attack on the ethos of our country’s ideas. In the name of “acche din” people face serious challenges in life and livelihood. Students and youth who voted for the BJP to power in the last two terms are completely delusional with the rapid increase in unemployment.
A lot of students who joined student politics post-2014, including me, have been exposed to the idea that the student community always have the possibility to change the tide. The BJP’s election manifesto which promised an education system which would create minds free from superstitions, hatred and violence to cement national unity, social cohesion and religious amity has just remained as ‘jumlas’. Authoritarian assaults on our educational institutions — FTII, HCU, JNU, BHU, IITs — aimed at crushing the democratic culture and voices of dissent. Despite such attacks, the student community has organised for — save their demands echoing larger national questions. The role of student unions and organisations has been key to ensuring that issues related to education go beyond the campuses and link civil society at large.
In 2019, when a massive fee hike was launched in JNU, the student community successfully linked their demand to roll back of fee hike to the question of saving public education. The demand that government spending on education should increase was even identified by the High Court. Similar fee hikes were launched in IITs, Pondicherry University, which later got rolled back only due to organised movement. Even during the central government’s decision to implement laws such as CAA-NRC, students from across states came down on the streets to protect the country from being divided along communal lines. Similarly, when farmers’ protests shook the entire nation, the student community joined hands at different borders of Singhu and Tikri under the banner of “Students With Farmers” to churn the consciousness of the student community to fight for a larger cause and to stand with the peasants who were fighting for their livelihood. When the Agnipath Scheme, which arbitrarily decided to privatise jobs in the army was announced, militant protests erupted to question the Centre’s intention in dealing with the rising unemployment situation and job question.
In 2024, while the entire country was hooked on the results of the Lok Sabha, the worst disclosure of paper leaks of examinations like NEET came in front, followed by leaks in NET and other government examinations. The entire month of June, students across the states staged protests to register their dissent on how mafias in coaching centres are ruining the future of the students who aspire to take these tests and go on to become doctors. The recent protests started by the junior doctors at R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata after the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor have shown the role of students in politically bringing the issue of rape to the centre of discussion, leading to large-scale civil society participation in the movement. The role of students in political participation will always be important to ensure that a vibrant democracy is in place and when a national discourse is being established, students have an important role in deciding the future of that at any point in time.
The writer is a former President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union and is a Member of the Students’ Federation of India. She was also the CPI(M) candidate from Jamuria constituency for the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election
