In June this year, Jadavpur University had witnessed a police crackdown that sparked off a massive student movement. That movement did not stop with winning the withdrawal of unfair suspensions of 5 students; it has continued to demand a judicial enquiry into the incident – and to demand that the LF Government of W Bengal acknowledge and take responsibility for the crackdown. On August 11, the AISA unit of JU took the initiative of inviting students from campuses al over the country to share their experiences of struggles for democracy on campuses.
The National Convention on 'Democracy in Campuses' held on the JNU campus began with the presentation of a paper on democracy in campuses by the AISA President. The paper discussed the World Bank sponsored perspective on student movements, based on a World Bank Report which argued that political activism on campuses needed to be restricted, in order to curb protests against fee hikes and unemployment. It pointed out that the governments in the country, including the West Bengal Government, reflect the World Bank concern that campuses and students should present a 'corporate-friendly’ image. This is why they feel threatened when Engineering students of Jadavpur boycott exams against muzzling of protests, or when JNU students kick out an MNC outlet like Nestle. Similarly, they worry that the workers’ movement of Gurgaon will give India a bad image among investors.
In order to muzzle students’ movements, democratically elected Student Unions as well as all democratic activity is often banned on campuses like BHU, Jamia as well as most Universities in Bihar . The paper discussed a recent judgement of the Rajasthan High Court which tried to ban elections to Unions in all campuses in that State, and pointed out that contrary to the myth that activism discourages academics, academics tend to be most meaningful and rich where student activism thrives.
Student activists from campuses all over W Bengal, including Presidency College and Kolkata University; student leaders from Delhi University and JNU; Prem Shankar, the Joint Secretary of the Allahabad University Union; Comrade Saleem, President of the RYA, as well as hundreds of students from Patna University, Bhagalpur Univ., Vir Kunwar Singh Univ. Ara, Mithila Univ. shared experiences of struggles against Administrative highhandedness, police crackdowns, bans on activism and other assaults on students’ democratic rights.
On August 17, the day that the Employment Guarantee Bill was slated to be tabled in Parliament, AISA held an all-India March to Parliament, in which hundreds of students from Punjab , Uttarakhand , Assam , Karbi Anglong, Bengal , as well as DU, JNU and Jamia Millia participated. The March was also addressed by Ashokumar Singh, the President of the Manipur University Students’ Union as well as Manipur student leaders Kapu.
The March opposed the dilutions in the Employemnt Guarantee Bill and the Supreme Court judgment scrapping SC/ST reservations in private educational institutions while allowing NRI quotas. The March also raised the demand for restoration of Students’ Union Elections in Banaras Hindu University and Jamia Millia Islamia, and a judicial enquiry into the police crackdown on students of Jadavpur. The March also demanded a Common School System, which would guarantee schooling of an equitable quality for all students.