People's Democracy

THE unholy triangle of the BJP state government, university authorities and the ABVP played many dirty tricks with the sole aim of benefiting ABVP in the elections to the student's union --- students central association (SCA) of Himachal Pradesh University, held on August 11. They resulted in SFI losing elections in HP University campus and Post Graduate college in Mandi – both organisationally and strategically important centers of democratic movement in the state. In both these centers ABVP won. These unions were with SFI for most of the years.

In the University campus, SFI lost the post of president by a margin of 122 votes, vice-president by a margin of 75 votes, general secretary by only 9 votes and joint secretary by a margin of 79 votes.

In the outgoing union, SFI had defeated ABVP comprehensively and won all the four office-bearer posts and also 22 out of the 37 departmental representatives. This time the loss of all office bearers, was however, compensated to some extent by winning of 19 departmental representatives out of 35.

While in PG College Mandi, the margin of defeat was higher as SFI got almost 1050 votes against 1200 polled by the ABVP candidates. In the outgoing union ABVP had won only the post of secretary.

It is not only the NDA and BJP at the Centre who are longing for curtailing democracy by advocating fixed term for Loksabha, their offshoots in Himachal have actually started implementing it. A faulty and anti-democratic constitution was imposed upon the students community with anti-democratic clauses. One of it was that a student once elected to an office of SCA will not be eligible to contest again. To further the interests of fascist thinking and advocating selective and limited democracy, the elections were not only declared on the same day for colleges and University but the authorities even refused to see the reason that admissions to various courses was in process and admission to hostels had not yet begun when the elections were notified.

Thus the right to vote of a large majority of student's was snatched away. In the final count only 1586 votes were cast and more than 35 per cent of the voters could not exercise their franchise for lack of continuation, late admission and non-allotment of hostels.

These moves were obviously intended to contain SFI as the history of students’ movement in Himachal Pradesh is history of the glorious struggles launched by SFI. The students interests have been kept alive under the leadership of SFI and in turn the students’ community of the state has unfailingly reposed their faith in SFI. Only some minor aberrations occurred when in 1990 SFI could win just the post of president and in 1983 when with connivance of the administration, ABVP candidate and present health minister in the state government managed to get elected as co-winner with SFI candidate. The students community never failed SFI since 1978 when first direct elections were held.

In this background the above-said clauses were inserted in SCA constitution to benefit ABVP which has always been rejected by the students’ community for its backward thinking and anti-student stances it has always taken. Since 1978 the constitution has been amended to benefit NSUI or ABVP by the respective state governments and most of these measures were appended to damage SFI and benefit the students organisation of ruling parties. This time also the state government and its stooge – University authority, connived to benefit ABVP at all cost as on the eve of elections to the state assembly, victory of ABVP can be projected as acceptance and soliciting of government's policies by the most vocal section of society, that is, the students of university and its affiliate colleges.

In a population of just 70 lakhs, there are about 1.4 per cent who study in colleges and Universities of Himachal Pradesh. The student struggles had broad mass mobilization and strong message, and hence, were taken seriously by the BJP led state government.

It is worth mentioning here that recently SFI along with DYFI, CITU and Kisan Sabha had organised a big mass campaign in Himachal Pradesh which evoked very good response in the revenue divisions of Shimla and Mandi. One of the focal issues of this campaign was commercialisation and communalisation of education. Fearing severe drubbing of its student wing (ABVP) and loss of face to the government, the state administration and the ruling party concentrated all their efforts in these two divisions to damage SFI's prospects. Its result was SFI suffered losses in in Mandi division but its overall position improved in Shimla despite loss of University union.

The government deputed one of its senior ministers to organise and oversee all the activities of ABVP and simultaneously snubbed University administration and directed it not to accept even genuine students demands raised and pushed forward by SFI led elected students union. To top it all the elections were announced suddenly to catch SFI unawares.

NSUI openly sided with ABVP in these two important centres of students. However in such a highly polarised and highly politicised environment, it was totally discredited and marginalised. NSUI’s dummy panel got 60 votes in the University campus and in Mandi it had not even thought it proper to filed a dummy panel. Its state president propounded a new thesis to justify this siding saying that this move will result in the defeat of SFI not only in the current elections but for many more to come. He said in that scenario NSUI will capture the space thus vacated by the SFI. Little did the proponent of this theory know that SFI was born in grim struggles and not by political hobnobbing and it will bounce back by its unfailing commitment to students cause and not by vote management.

These elections were held in very difficult times. Education is being sold in Himachal as a commodity and ABVP is party to it as many of its stalwarts are running private colleges and minting money by open loot. In the name of self-financing scheme, the university has collected crores of rupees but it has not been spent either for providing of new facilities or for strengthening the existing infrastructure. Instead this money is being misutilised to pay for the unproductive expenditure and to bridge the revenue deficit caused by the declining financial outlays provided to the University by the state government. Simultaneously the government is pressing the University to raise its own resources. This has resulted in disproportionate hiking of both tuition and hostel fees. ABVP pretends by crying from roof-tops and shedding crocodile tears on these anti-students decisions. It is the old game of sangh parivar to play on both the sides of the court.

However, their too clever tricks are not going to wash with the people.

They are watching how instead of funding the knowledge creation efforts in frontline areas of science technology, management, social sciences and humanities (which matters a lot to a nation of billion souls) Vajpayee government is putting money to start jyotish and astrology (the pseudo sciences). Where they wish to take this nation and the youth of cyber age? These were the issues raised by SFI in its campaign and put in the manifesto along with a demand charter.

Apart from the two serious setbacks received, the SFI has maintained its record of glorious victories. It has won in many new colleges and wrested some new unions from the ABVP and NSUI. SFI won for the first time full panel in PG College Chamba, presidentship in Chauwari (Chamba district), full panels in DAV College Kotkhai and Sawra (Shimla district), secretary and joint secretary in Kukumseri (tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti), full panel in government College Arki (district Solan) and Sujan Pur Tihra (home district of CM- Hamirpur), full panel in Girls College Shimla (RKMV) for the first time wresting the SCA from ABVP. SFI also won full union from ABVP by a huge margin in Government College Kotshera (Shimla City).

The success rate of SFI in Shimla District is very high except for its loss in the all important HP University Union. SFI had 50 per cent success rate in the tribal District of Lahaul and Spiti. However, it had no success in Kullu district. In Mandi success rate of SFI was again very low and it lost two Unions to ABVP. In Hamirpur district again the success rate of SFI is very high and it gained at the cost of ABVP.

ABVP was badly defeated in the largest and most populous district of Kangra though the beneficiary here was NSUI as SFI was not organisationally strongh in this district. In Chamba district, bordering Jammu & Kashmir, the success rate of SFI is again very high. It increased its tally of office bearers from 4 to 6.

In the southernmost District of Sirmaur bordering Utranchal, SFI again had mixed fortune bagging two office bearer posts including the important one of presidentship in Post Graduate College, Nahan. ABVP and NSUI had to be content with one post each.

All in all, the spectrum of SFI victory is wide as well as splendid.

The message of these elections is loud and clear. It has sent danger signals to the present state government and also to its stooge ABVP. The students of H.P. University and its affiliated colleges have shown the genius and sagacity of the students’ community as the official students organisation was rejected in majority colleges. But for the management of elections in PG College Mandi and University Campus, Shimla, ABVP has been badly rejected by the students throughout the state of Himachal Pradesh. It is obvious that the students have not accepted the commercialisation and communalisation of education being resorted to by the masters of ABVP.

On the other hand, these results are also a warning to secular and progressive sections among the students’ community that the going can be tough for them if they develop complacency and do not take seriously the twin challenge of commercialisation and communalisation of education.