People's Democracy

Prasenjit Bose

THE student community of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and the progressive and democratic sections outside, were shocked when the Left lost the presidential post to the ABVP by a single vote in JNUSU elections last year. Although the defeat could be attributed to certain opportunistic elements who were expelled from the SFI and who allied with the opposition to ensure the defeat of the Left, the media left no stone unturned to project this freak incident as a political victory of the RSS-controlled ABVP over the SFI-AISF alliance. This year’s mandate in the JNUSU elections has to be primarily seen as a fitting rebuff to all those who were enthusiastic about an increasing influence of the right-wing communal forces in JNU.

People’s Democracy has, in its last issue, reported the final results of the elections. Though on expected lines, these results surprised many due to the huge margins by which all the SFI-ASIF candidates defeated those from the ABVP.

The experience of the students throughout the past one-year when the ABVP led the students union was bad enough. The joint secretary of the union, who was from the ABVP, vanished from the scene after last year’s elections. The JNUSU president failed to take up any issue concerning the students and rally the student community behind the union. Rather he was busy protecting his colleagues from the ABVP who were indicted and made out of bounds of JNU, for indulging in successive acts of lumpenism, physically assaulting students, vandalising shops in the market, beating up child workers in the dhaba, and drunken brawls. These activities by the ABVP cadres, which were completely antithetical to the democratic culture of JNU, antagonised large sections of the students who are concerned about the academic environment on the campus.

In contrast to the disruptive role played by the ABVP, the SFI-ASIF members in the union not only stood firmly in defence of JNU’s democratic culture but also took several constructive initiatives. It was due to the efforts by the SFI-AISF representatives that the library purchased more than 4,000 new books, which were requisitioned by the students and faculty. The SFI-AISF representatives also took lead in successfully opposing fresh burdens being imposed upon the students in the form of electricity charges from hostelers. These, along with other local level initiatives, increased the popularity of the SFI-ASIF among the common students.

The past year also witnessed the attacks of communalisation and commercialisation in JNU. The JNU administration sought to start commercial courses under a new ‘School of Information Technology’ (SIT) on a self-financed basis. Large sections of the academic community felt that the opening of such a school would fundamentally alter the academic character of JNU. Apprehensions were also rife regarding the existent School of Computer and Systems Sciences (SC&SS) whose programmes and research could be duplicated by the proposed SIT, thus threatening the career prospects of the SC&SS students. Along with this drive towards commercialisation in the name of ‘internal resource mobilisation,’ the JNU administration also sought to start new, undefined and mysterious, programmes on ‘Human Consciousness’ and ‘Yogic Sciences’ at the behest of the UGC which had offered special funding for them. It soon became clear that these courses were nothing but more sophisticated versions of the obscurantist courses like jyotish shashtra and karamkand which the UGC is imposing upon universities across the country. Remaining doubts regarding these courses were cleared when their syllabi appeared in an ABVP pamphlet earlier during the semester. Students and teachers both were outraged by this attempt to infiltrate nonsensical courses and denigrate the academic credibility of the JNU.

It was the struggle against this saffronisation and commercialisation of JNU that galvanised the support of broad sections of progressive, secular and democratic minded students behind the SFI-AISF platform. A large number of students felt that the SFI-AISF alliance is best suited to defend the secular and scientific academic credentials of JNU.

Put on the defensive by the campaign against the education policies of the BJP-led government, the ABVP unleashed a vicious communal and anti-Left propaganda on the eve of the elections. Taking advantage of the September 11 terrorist strikes in the US and the imperialist war against Afghanistan, the ABVP tried to polarise the students on communal lines. Through pamphlets brought out in the name of Vivekanand Vichar Manch (an RSS outfit), they made extremely provocative remarks against Muslims and, following George Bush’s dictum, termed the Left as ‘pro-terrorist’ since it was opposing the war. In order to justify the infamous POTO, the ABVP got central ministers like Arun Jaitley and I D Swamy to address their election meetings. They raised the same ‘anti-national’ bogey against the Left and tried their best to convince the students about the ‘nationalist’ credentials of the Vajpayee government.

The thrashing defeat to the ABVP is thus a mandate against the policies of the BJP-led government. The students rallied behind the political position of the SFI-AISF which opposed both the mindless terrorism resorted to by religious fanatics as well as the imperialist war being waged by the US-led bloc, leading to loss of innocent lives and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Prior to and during the elections, the SFI-AISF carried out an intensive ideological-political campaign against the imperialist war and terrorism through several seminars and public meetings. The position of the Left, which exposed the US hypocrisy in fighting terrorism and linked the growth of terrorists like Osama bin Laden to the sectarian designs of US foreign policy, was largely appreciated by the JNU students.

The brazen attempts by the RSS-BJP to stoke up communal passions in the country before the assembly elections in UP also exposed them thoroughly. Through regular interventions, the SFI-AISF successfully highlighted the recent incidents of communal riots in Malegaon and Asind, the VHP president’s illegal entry into the Babri Masjid site, the trishul diksha programmes in Rajasthan by Bajrang Dal, and the desecration of the Taj Mahal by BJYM hoodlums. The ABVP failed to answer the poser from the SFI-AISF: if the SIMI has been banned, why not the Bajrang Dal and RSS?

In fact, the ABVP misread the secular consciousness of the JNU students. Just on the eve of the elections, the ABVP organised a very expensive Durga Puja, violating all norms and procedures and without any prior permission from the authorities. This confrontationist act, which had the blessings of the vice chancellor, angered the majority of the students. While staying clear of falling into the ABVP’s trap by avoiding any confrontation, the SFI-AISF vigorously campaigned among the students regarding the misuse of religion for narrow political purposes. An alternative cultural evening against war and terror was organised. A large number of students attended it, and enjoyed the music and poetry performed by eminent artists as well as the anti-war films shown during the programme.

The ABVP’s communal propaganda reached its zenith when its general secretary candidate took a leaf out of Sudarshan’s highly provocative Dussehra Day speech and declared in the university general body meeting that "those who ask questions about Hindu Rashtra do not understand that India is already a Hindu Rashtra." Elaborating upon the same theme, ABVP presidential candidate roared in the presidential debate, "All those who stay in India must consider themselves to be Hindus." It was this high-pitched communal rhetoric which drove the last nail in the ABVP’s coffin by consolidating the support of a large majority of secular and democratic minded students behind the SFI-AISF. The unprecedented and high margins of victory for the SFI-ASIF were a reaction to the attempts at polarisation which the ABVP tried to create on the basis of the RSS ideology and the BJP-led government’s policies. But their agenda was rejected and students united under the banner of SFI-AISF to defeat the communal and reactionary forces. This shows how the JNU students remain overwhelmingly progressive and secular, and opposed to the RSS-BJP.

The SFI-AISF votes have increased by huge margins across the university. However, the most striking feature of the victory has been the phenomenal increase in support for the SFI-AISF in SLL&CS. Being the JNU’s biggest school, which till last year was the ABVP stronghold, the solid support received by the Left there had a major impact on the results. The fresh inroads made by the Left within the young students of BA first year is the most significant gain made during the elections. Apart from this, the marked improvement in the performance in SSS, which has been the traditional bastion of the Left, sealed the fate of the ABVP.

The increase in SFI-AISF votes was brought about primarily through the year-long activism and ideological-political campaign by the SFI, the major partner in the Left alliance. Apart from an overall favourable political situation in the campus, it is the SFI’s highly motivated and committed organisation that made it different from other organisations. It is significant that all rival political groups have formally recognised the organisational strength of the SFI. The fact that the SFI organisation has grown and strengthened after the last year’s disruptions, vindicates the correctness of the action which was taken against the opportunistic elements.

The unity of SFI and AISF has also been crucial in the fight against the ABVP. This year the alliance continued for the fifth consecutive year, which reflects the political maturity of both the organisations. The unity of the Left alliance was maintained this year without any serious disturbance or difference of opinion, helping in consolidating the Left votes in the campus.

However, despite its electoral defeat, the ABVP’s strength cannot be underestimated. They have by and large retained their base and their candidates have polled a good number of votes. Although there was a slight depletion of their support in the SLL&CS, they made up for it with greater support from the science schools. Their votes in SSS and SIS have remained nearly unchanged. All this makes it imperative to intensify the political struggle against the ABVP in the coming days.

The major casualty in this year’s elections has been the AISA. While the last year’s disruptions within the SFI had breathed some life into the AISA, this year they ended up with a dismal show. Their presidential candidate, who received 690 votes last year, finished with 235 this year. Their vice president and joint secretary candidates finished in fourth positions, behind the NSUI, getting only 200-odd votes each. All this is a result of the totally opportunistic politics under the garb of ‘Left’ phrase-mongering, which the AISA has been resorting to for years. While they remain totally inactive throughout the year, their campaign during elections would always be predicated upon an understanding that the SFI-AISF are their principal political enemy. Therefore, year after year during the elections, the AISA comes out with the saga of ‘betrayal’ of the student movement by the SFI-AISF, completely oblivious of the importance of fighting the communal forces. It is this infantile attitude which led the AISA to resort to a slander campaign against SFI-AISF candidates this year, based upon a controversial case of sexual harassment in the campus. The falsity of their allegations as well as their political bankruptcy got exposed in the course of the campaign and their petty politics has been severely punished by the students.

The NSUI continues to be a non-serious organisation. It claimed to have 1,000-odd members before the elections, but their presidential candidate managing to get only 110 votes. Their credibility was totally undermined when they admitted all those expelled from SFI last year and also made them office-bearers of their organisation at various levels. A section of their leadership also worked for the ABVP, which has now become a regular trend within the NSUI. Factionalism and infighting, along with a lack of any politics, have ensured that the NSUI remains nothing more than a motley band of self-styled ‘leaders’ without any mass following.

The big mandate received by the SFI-AISF also bestows enormous responsibility upon them. The students have a lot of expectations from this union in which the Left alliance has an absolute majority. Besides the crucial struggle against communalisation and commercialisation, the SFI-AISF-led JNUSU has to take up the issues promised in the election manifesto, including scholarship for SC/ST students, better library and computer facilities, staff recruitment in messes and health centre, etc. It is only through relentless struggles on student issues that the aspirations of the students can be met and the tremendous support received in these elections consolidated.

Votes Polled