Recent PUCSC elections witnessed one of the
most dramatic end ever. The culminating day comprised of 59% polling on a rainy
day, clash between SOI and NSUI supporters, later a theatrical end at STU-C. Both
the PUSU & NSUI supporters reached STU-C (hooting and raising slogans)
claiming themselves as winners, followed by some leaders of SOI. The drama went
on for an hour till the DSW came out with the result. But not the final! He asked
that the margin between the top two contenders is less than 100. The result
came out two rainy hours later after recounting. Presidential candidate of NSUI
alliance was announced winner with 2249 over SOI alliance candidate with 58
votes & the PUCSC panel was elected on a rainy day.
The mad race for PUCSC elections started a
couple of months ago. Student organizations started mobilizing their work force
by organizing ‘help desk’ during the admission process, distributing admission
& hostel forms for free. What runs parallel is the struggle for claiming
leadership by projecting themselves on notice boards with posters declaring
themselves as general secretaries, presidents, campus presidents, state
presidents, vice presidents, chief patron etc. & the list goes further. The
organizations that have been inactive for the whole academic year posture as the
most active and progressive. The largest number of ‘Memorandum Submissions
& Protests’ were submitted in last two months as compared to the whole last
year. Ironically majority of the participants were outsiders comprised of
relatives and friends of ‘the leaders’ having nothing to do with the issues. Lakhs
of rupees were spent on feeding this ‘work force’ & the package came with a
‘bonus of hooliganism’, violent clashes, use of sharp weapons & muscle
power.
The syllabus and time table was distributed
to lure students as the classes started. Accommodation in hostels was ‘promised’ and
students’ issues were being ‘raised’. Further methods such as befriending them
on the basis of region, relatives or community etc. are used every time. Afterwards
the “FUN COMES TO PU” phase started, the cars with posters rally all around in
the campus to generate a ‘wave in their favor’. The leaders appeared in the
classrooms to address the students highlighting their ‘achievements’ and made
huge promises. The students were offered every form of ‘enjoyment’ like
watching movies in multiplexes for free, free trips to Kasauli, Shimla, Chail, Thunder
Zone, Fun-city for free to enjoy them in the water parks, cradle and hammocks
etc. Apart from these other type of freebies were presented which comprised of
organizations’ account at STU-C, night food streets, hostels etc. & Coffee invitations at five star
hotels, disc parties etc. Expensive liquor, opium etc. were served to
the students (youth!).
In such
a scenario the organizations by spending more & more tried to buy the votes.
The PUCSC elections were turned into a show of money & muscle power. The
students were terrorized and votes were purchased for thousands of rupees
especially the night before elections. On the Polling day students were fared
from home and hostels to respective departments via cars. All this was done to
divert attention from the real issues prevalent in the campus & society.
Students’ politics in PU campus has undergone a change in the last couple
of years. Mainstream political parties has directly interfered though their
respective groups. Last year NSUI utilized the influence of its parent party
and SOI tread the same path. And PUCSC elections were held in the shadow of
this mainstream politics that itself is characterized by corruption, money
& muscle power etc. All this resulted in further intensification of
violence, use of money and muscle power. The PUCSC elections are turning into ‘SARPANCHI
elections’ (the struggle for power and ego).
UT administration & PU authority are trying to utilize this scenario to
suppress every possibility of a democratic students’ movement. 700 cops were deployed in the campus & tried to
terrorized students with flag march in the campus prior to the Election Day. In
the name of providing security to students and prevent violence the argument
for Police Intervention is propagated. However, what needs to be
understand is that it is the
lower political environment that is translated into such incidents of violence.
Its solution lies only in building a democratic environment in the campus based
on dialogue & discussions. Only a high political consciousness can isolate
such lumpen elements who are responsible for such activities. But authorities in fact try to depoliticize the campus under this excuse to curtail the students’
movement. What is more questionable is
that hostel raids are conducted by police which is even against rules as none
of the authorities is alongside them. That police has already illustrated its
character assaulting students protesting for their basic demands, be it brutal
crackdown on students protesting against the rise in mess diet prices or
registering a FIR against the students protesting against the Delhi Gang Rape
in front of Governor House or the torture and the registering of fake cases of
molestation etc. on students protesting against the fee hike to suppress their
struggle.
The code of conduct that was introduced in
this session is even more repressive than Lyngdoh norms. 75% compulsory
attendance, age limit, ban on printed materials and academic arrears etc. has
never been able to prevent the use of money & muscle power but the open house was banned due to Lyngdoh norms
undermining campus democracy . In fact the whole set of these norms is full of
such suggestions. Every activity of students is first scrutinized by the
authorities and even small matters like displaying notice, needs the permission
from authorities. The whole ‘permission’ phenomenon utilized to suppress the
right to freely express ideas. These authorities turn a blind eye towards
distribution of alcohol, trips, movies, disc parties and other freebies as it
serve their motive to de-politicization of campus and defamation of student
politics. But the authorities become proactive while suppressing any dissenting
voice for the politicization and democratization of campus.
Now the question that comes to mind is, “Is students’ council a place for
students’ representation to promote students’ interests or a platform where
some ‘leaders’ can develop relationships among authorities & politicians to
serve their self-interests”. Student politics instead of resisting anti-people
policies is being lead to form a nexus of ‘student organizations’ authorities
that undermines students’ rights. It is generally visible when some of these
‘leaders’ act as authorities’ agents or pawns. We find no transparency in the functioning
of PUCSC and god knows where all the money goes. The role of council has remained limited to
organizing fests like Aagaz, Jhankar, rose fests, etc. while ignoring the
issues concerning students. The PUCSC relates it with the students as
neta-janta (A hierarchical relation) instead of building a democratic student-student
relation. In reality many critical issues which need serious concerns are not
focused and addressed. Even the demand for Senate representation (not mere
observer status) is still pending. But the elections of PUCSC are turning into
a battleground of power, glamour & ego.
SFS participated first time in PUCSC elections
while criticizing the prevailing environment through leaflets, hostel campaigns
and speeches. A play was also performed at various departments, hostels,
student center to expose the prevailing practices of money and muscle power.
The recognition & support of such efforts by students forced various
organizations to ask DSW to ban the Play’s screening. The biggest Hoax was that
various organizations even tried to claim credit for the fee hike struggle of
last year. Even despite that everybody
knows that 25 days of hunger strike was organized & lead
by SFS (that even faced brutal repression) and all other student organizations
have joined the struggle after that incident. Some organizations even tried to defame SFS. As SFS functioning,
methodology & understanding has been recognized an alternative platform by
the students. Apart from students’ issues we have been raising various socio-economic
issues related to caste, gender communalization, corruption & nature of
development. In spite of all these ridicule and freebies, SFS
managed to garner 1334 votes. This huge support of students may be difficult to
digest for some but it indicates students believe & stand the progressive
students’ politics.
In fact we need to examine students’ politics in a broader context without limiting the role of student to a mere voter,
as the students need to play a proactive role (apart from casting their votes) to
decide future of their own & society. In these times, when
the world economy is stuck into
the ever deepening crisis & in India 27 crore youth is unemployed, 84 crore
population is living on less than 20 rupees a day, a peasant commits suicide
every 30 minutes, a girl is raped every 21 minutes, more than 3.3 million
people are waiting for their rehabilitation which were displaced due to dams.
25 lakh indigenous manufactories are being closed since
1947, disinvestment in PSUs
(like ONGC, Coal India), privatization and commercialization of education, destruction
of ecological system etc. are seriously affecting the social welfare &
economy. We have to struggle against neoliberal policies that are leading to
reducing expenditure on social welfare activities of State resulting in rising
inequalities, self-financed courses, fee hikes, low employment opportunities,
scarcity of hostels, curbing democratic space & cut throat competition is
turning a social being into a selfish one. In this scenario, the role of
student politics is acquiring more and more importance. But in our campus, students’ politics has been
a battleground for money & muscle power denying any participation to 70% of
girls, students from oppressed castes, scheduled tribes & minority
communities like Mizos, Manipuris, Kashmiris etc. Therefore, we need to develop a democratic
platform to understand the concrete socio-economic realities and organize
ourselves to solve the problems. It becomes duty of every progressive student
and organizations to raise voice against every unjust practice in society and
anti-people policy framed by ruling class.
SFS appeals every student to join our efforts to
democratize the campus and to struggle for equality & justice in society.
We hope your support and participation in the coming events to build democratic,
intellectual & academic environment & thank everybody who supported us
in our efforts.