STUDENTS’ POLITICS: A RAY OF HOPE.

In this professional era, where job and education crisis is at its peak, people hardly are able to think and analyse. Trapped in amid of politics, policies and other issues which needs to be combatted to ease the way of life, It is indeed a lethal ambient which has taken shape in India since after coming of BJP into power. The RSS backed government has no doubt a huge and massive partisan nationwide but while talking about its other side its facing a huge criticism from potential sections of the country.

The JP Andolan (1975-77) in India was one phase in independent India which produced many prominent leaders in our country including two CMs of Bihar. The emergency era took a remarkable drift in the history of free India, as due to this several new parties emerged including the BJP as well. All parties were formed with the notion of “socialistic parties”. The aroma of the country was such that a revolution has taken place and the country shall shape a new modern, developed and powerful India. This also provided platform to the RSS to highjack or perhaps make their own party so that they may get into politics. Now, after around forty years things seem to be the same.

The campaigning for the BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections was indeed well organized with such an ambit that gave a clear nod of its triumphant over congress. The congress too didn’t perform well in its ruling tenure like every other party and faced strong epithet in the whole country. The 2G scam, colgate scam, adarsh housing society scam, price hike and so on played well in distorting the congress image. Some may even claim the mum attitude of the then PM Manmohan Singh or may be the puerile candidature of congress for Prime Minister’s post. The slogans, polarization politics, Hindu radicalization and creation of Ram Mandir were used as a paradigm to win the elections. Narendra Modi took a good chance to fill up the leadership crisis by using beautiful slogans to win over the hearts of poor people, who saw him as a ray of hope. Words like “Sabka saath sabka vikas”, “Har har Modi, ghar ghar modi”, were impeccable slogans which got spaces in the young minds, farmers and poor of the country. The masses of the country saw a ray of hope for a change and better living.

Since after winning of BJP with absolute majority in the Lok Sabha in 2014 and forming a robust government things came out to be at worst. People with the ray of hope started pondering over fifteen lakh rupees to be debited into their bank account, employment of youth, concealment of Chinees army from Arunachal Pradesh, ten heads from Pakistan and so on. When the government couldn’t do all that it started swaying new issues to counter their foul promises like “Ghar wapsi”, “Love Jihad”, Pakistan Abode etc. When this too didn’t work, escaping the minority, the government backed by the RSS took over targeting the Schedule Cast people all over the country. Many of the public intellectuals returned their Awards in critics of the fascist forces prevailing in the country with Hindutwa outfit all backed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

 The centre was well going with all this until the suicide of HCU’s Dalit student Rohith Vemula, or some may calling it “institutional murder”. Rohith’s suicide in January 2016 took a massive criticism, when communication letters from HRD minister Smriti Irani to HCU-VC Appa Rao and Local MP of Hyderabad was discovered. This led to a huge outrage and mass protest against the government from all over the country. Students of prominent universities including AMU, JNU, AU etc. came out on a road protest. In between Smriti Irani was already in a breach of criticism when students were leading the “OccupyUGC” movement, where Non-NET fellowships were scraped, that is granted to the Research Scholars. In all this JNU students played an active role in tugging down the government policies and were fighting for Rohith’s Justice. The government targeted JNU which comprises of the left ideologists at its maximum. A couple of students including JNUSU president Kanahiya Kumar were arrested in connection with a programme where so-called “anti-national” slogans were chanted. The government tried all possible measures from physical violence to legal battle to debar the students and break the JNU campus but that became the cause of their own debacle.

Sedition law that comes under section 124-A, is being carried out as a British Legacy by our Government today, was charged to these students and students were arbitrary detained in the JNU row. Sedition law was imposed in the year 1870 under British Raj to debar the Indians from going against the state. Victims of this law were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandh, Bhagat Sing and many other prominent freedom fighters. Now, at this juncture, it feels the same with the impact which is stating the foul debate in the country as a "national" or "anti-national". It's a high time that we get rid of these kinds of laws which are detrimental towards democracy. These laws give a clear notion that we are still trapped in the old same pattern of British colonialism. At this era when the world is busy making satellites, discovering the universe and so on, it seems a kind of joke that we are still pondering over these foul debates.

All after the JNU row the students’ movement has again taken a rise and has caused a stir in the country, young leaders are coming out from colleges and universities, media seems to be coming back on a right track and civilians are getting to know the reality. This gives a clear remark that India is now combatting fascism and heading towards a revolutionary change. Hope, the new drift unlike 1977 promoting the left ideology may keep pace and bring out potential leaders who could fulfill the Idea of India dreamt by Ganghi, Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, Sukhdev, Ashfaqullah and all other prominent freedom fighters who suffered the sedition charges and gave up their life for our freedom.
#Jai_Hind #Jai_Bharat

- Arsalan Mohammad
Post Script- Views are personal, positive criticism and views accepted.