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Leaflet No. 17 CONTACT: 9463154024, 9814507116
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Politics of
‘Compromise’ –Understanding the Basic
Nature of Student
Organizations in PU
Last few days in Panjab University have witnessed a lot
of chaotic environment, which included a protest in front of the VC office,
rallies by student organizations, lathicharge on the protesting students,
announcement of black ‘Diwali’ and apart from these various anti-students
and discriminatory compromises being offered by varsity authorities. Well!
The whole protest was over the increased food prices in the campus, which as it
turned out was clearly distinguished from the other protests seen in the
university in the recent times. PU authorities decreed the increase by putting
forward the argument of decrease in profits of contractors due to increased LPG
prices. It shall be clearly stated here that university is a welfare
institution not some private industry, with its prime motive being promoting
higher education but the PU authorities, just for their vested interests is
taking an unethical stance on the issue. Just for the profits of some
contractors the students are burdened with extra charges. Moreover, this
decision was knowingly taken and implemented during holidays so that they can
escape the students’ sharp opposition. Even after these cunning measures,
the students rose against this decision and registered their protest most
handsomely, but the PU authorities instead of addressing the issue resorted
to various measures to terrorize the students and dampen the spirits of
students’ unity. Pretty strange was the behavior of authorities, on one
side such generous behavior with the contractors and on the other hand such a
step-motherly treatment with the students of their own campus. Their
impeccable worry for the contractors made it look like that DSW doesn’t stand
for Dean Student Welfare rather it means Dean Contractor Welfare. Even when
some students from SFS were going from hostel to hostel to organize the
students than the police forcibly tried to stop them and asked us to first get
permission for even interacting with the students, which is basically an attack
on our democratic rights. During the days of protest, the various anti-student
and discriminatory comprises forwarded by authorities raise a simple question: Why
the authorities were so hell bent on being anti-student? When we ask for
subsidy for cheaper food they cry foul over low funds but when it’s about
lightening on the Diwali festival, well they have generous funds for it. It
seems that the university needs to get its priorities right. Well, how
responsible are our dear officials, it can be understood from the fact that to
take away a friend from SFS who was on hunger strike, they even produced a fake
medical report – a report which was prepared without collecting the samples.
Also, they were completely indifferent towards the state of hospitalized
students.
More recently,
stabbing even more the students’ rights, the PU authorities have forwarded the
proposal of imposing Section-144 within 100 yards of the VC office and also,
protests, if any, shall be held in a ground far away from the VC office. Well,
we just want to emphasize that students don’t want any place in the grounds
rather what they want is place in the decision making. This black law proposed
by university shall be readily opposed.
‘Police’ which is so proudly announced that it is there to serve the masses
but have always played the role crushing peoples’ dissent. A similar role was
played by the police in the Panjab University campus, due to which the
atmosphere in the PU campus was literally like a police camp. Various
methods were employed by police to terrorize the students which included lathicharging
the protesting students and then arresting the same. Even girls weren’t spared
by the lady police. The two-faced nature of police was exposed when in
order to celebrate their diwali they came forward to struck a compromise
between the two sides but once the festival was passed they resorted to same
anti-people measures and under the name of their duty and law, forcibly started
taking the students sitting on hunger strike to the hospital. The above
mentioned incident again brings into limelight the question asked for ages,
“What the hell is police doing in educational institutes?” Actually, the
presence of police in educational institutes is also detrimental to the
democratic environment of the country as students make the very roots of such
democracy. Another clause which was repeatedly publicized by the
authorities was that the students resorted to violence, but, it was just due
to the negligent attitude adopted by the authorities that the students have to
sharpen the form of the struggle to such an extent that it reached
violence. And talking of violence, it must be said that physical violence is
not the only violence but the violence was long initiated by the authorities
when they most irresponsibly increased the prices of the food items that
was one aspect of the violence also.
Now, let’s talk about the most important aspect of the leaflet – the other
student organizations present in the PU campus. Talking about these other
organizations what shall be surely mentioned first, is a statement by DSW
himself. He said that when a meeting of various student organizations
representatives was called by him to discuss the increase in prices then some
of the representatives said that the rate of mess diet shall be kept 32 rupees
which they will get decreased to 30 rupees after a protest. Some
organizations which joined this protest to gain some votes for the next
elections, they will come and then went after the media persons have
clicked the pictures. Now let’s first talk about the Student
Council, which is the official representative of the students in the
university. On paper, indeed they are the students’ representatives but going
as per their statements which appeared in various newspapers, it looks like
they are the representatives of the contractors and not the students. Their
statements were implicitly anti-student and were always favouring
the authorities. The council representatives were doing so much as
threatening the authorities not to negotiate with the protesting students or
else they will sit on a protest afterwards. Also, what came to fore about the
student organizations in PU was how much the campus students are unattached
from these organizations, this appears to be biggest reason responsible for low
number of the students attending the protests being held in the university in
last few years. Talking of the main opposition organization
at the university, well, their condition was also laughable, they were with the
protest in the beginning, some friends from them also joined the hunger
strike, but afterwards they left the protest and leaving the struggle aside,
they said that they will start talks of their own, but, when someone from the
media come, they will sit alongside so as to be in the pictures. Lets’
talk about the organization related the ruling party in ‘the Central
government’. It must be told, here that PUCSC president has recently joined
this organization with some of his friends, but their role in this struggle
also raises some questions as some of their members were protesting against the
hike. Another gloomy side of things is that they were blaming the PU
authorities while ignoring the main cause, the price hike in LPG and other
essential commodities by their parent party in power in the Centre. On the policy level the governments seem to be refuting
their responsibilities and propagating their anti-people ‘economic reforms’ for
the vested interests of some corporate. The government is spending only 1-2% of
GDP as compared recommendations of 10% as set by its own Yashpal Committee.
Private University Bill and Foreign University Bill also point towards
this commercialization of education which would deprive a large section for
education and will be dangerous for our ‘Shining India’.
Governments are withdrawing subsidies for common masses while granting huge tax
exemptions to the corporate. In fact, due to these policies the students have
to come and protest for their basic needs such as food and education.
Everybody knows how the struggle was concluded,
while noticing the rise of new alternative struggling culture and unity of the
students, PU authorities have deliberately stretched the issue long to split
the students and tested their patience. In order to prevent such new alternative
struggling culture they compromised only with those groups who have
been backing the authorities in the past In the end leaving aside the majority
of students. We would say that whatever the authorities have been forced to
kneel down is a victory of students’ unity in essence. We hope that the
students will carry forward this struggling attitude and will continue to fight
for their rights and against the authoritarian behavior of Panjab University.
LONG LIVE STUDENT UNITY!!! UNITE!
ORGANISE!! AGITATE!!!
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