New Delhi: With student unions becoming tools in the hands of politicians, amid a rise in cases of campus violence in the last few months, discussions about keeping politics out of the campus have started to surface.
Empirical evidence has showcased that campus politics has ended up doing more harm than good in the country. Not only are students subject to violence and coercion in institutes where campus politics is prevalent, but the quality of education also tends to suffer on account of the frequent disruptions by such bodies, which often resort to mob tactics to get their demands heard.
Besides, the political equations and conspiracies at the Central and state level have adversely affected student activism, which has led to wane in campus politics. Recognising this, some of the best educational institutions of the country like the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) have gone ahead and banned politicisation of student unions. But major parties like Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) continue to use student unions to establish their stronghold over campuses across the country.
“Today’s student politics has changed from being a movement to being momentary. The political parties’ realisation of the benefits of catching those young has led to a murky turn in college politics. The involvement of ‘outsiders’ has resulted in bloodshed across the universities in the country. It thus makes sense to keep education and politics separate,” Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader DP Tripathi told Gulf News.
“Politics is a vice, like drug addiction, and therefore should be banned in universities. It is sad that educational institutes have become advertisers for a certain brand of politics within the campus and influence students through meetings and campaigns,” says Anupam Nair, a history student from Ramjas College of the Delhi University.
Ruling that students unions have no place at all on academic campuses, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in 2006 had banned all forms of campus politics in the state. The bench had observed that collective bargaining, strikes and dharnas were not part of the academic domain.
“Almost every month brings to the fore a fresh incident involving clashes between rival groups of students on issues as varied as a film on Muzaffarnagar riots, a meeting on the hanging of Yakub Memon and a speech by some individual with very definite views. Students should keep themselves out of this dirty game of politics. They should think of entering into politics only after completing his desired qualifications,” Nayanika Bose, a psychology student of Delhi University, said.
“It is apparent that in the past few months, student politics in India has become extremely ugly. This is not because politics has suddenly entered the campuses in a virulent form. Politics has always been a feature of campus life. However, now there is a disturbing drift towards intolerance. This calls for separation of education from political influences,” S.P. Chauhan, former professor of history, at the Delhi University, said.
Many believe a student should have the right to read, talk, discuss and actively participate in his political destiny and any blanket ban on student politics robs the opportunity for the society and country to generate a politically and socially aware generation.
P. Rajeev, former Member of Parliament (MP) from Communist Party of India (Marxist), stressed the importance of politics in education, saying it comes with strings attached.
“Nobody in this country can really isolate education from politics. However, what is required is that politicians should be unbiased and more vigilant to ensure equity and access to education. The failure to do this has been reflected in the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula in the campus of Hyderabad University last month,” Rajeev told Gulf News.
“To imagine that a ban on campus politics would solve the problems of the universities and colleges is just an illusion. Organised student movements in peaceful and disciplined manner deserve to be passionately encouraged for inculcating democratic credentials among the youth,” V. Sreedhara, professor of social sciences at the Manipal University, told Gulf News.
