People's Democracy

Betrayal Day To Be Observed On Sept 10

The following is the text of the joint statement issued by the Left student organisations - Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Federation (AISF), All India Students Block (AISB) and All India Progressive Students Union (AIPSU) on September 1, 2007

The meeting of the Left student organisations decided to carry out an intense campaign against the pro-US imperialist policies of the UPA government. It was also decided to observe 10th of September as a ‘betrayal day’ by organising protest demonstrations against the Indo-US nuclear deal, FDI in education and the government’s intention to open doors for the entry of foreign universities in our country.

The UPA government has promised the people of our country that it “will pursue an independent foreign policy keeping in mind its past traditions” but is now reneging on this. In spite of the opposition from vast sections of the people of our country, the government is succumbing to the imperialist pressures and is pushing our country into its deadly embrace. On one hand it is burying the glorious anti-imperialist traditions of the people of our country while on the other hand it is trying to fool the people by cosmetically paying lip service to the 150th anniversary of the First War of Indian Independence, birth centenary of Bhagat Singh and the 60th anniversary of our independence. We have decided to carry out an intensive campaign in all the university centres and campuses across the country and expose this betrayal of the union government.

The union government, ignoring the popular opposition to the opening up of the education sector to the Foreign Service providers had agreed to allow 100 percent FDI in education sector in August 2005. As a result many fly-by-night operators have come and opened their shops in our country. Now more than 150 Foreign Education providers are operating in our country without any recognition or permission. Moreover all of them are second-rate ‘degree mills’ interested in making profits by cheating our people. Now in the name of regularisation, the government is trying to allow foreign universities to open shop by introducing a Bill to this effect in the parliament. Foreign universities are against the intellectual self-reliance of our country as they frame syllabus, conduct courses and grant degrees according to the needs and interests of their countries and not our country. This will seriously hamper the research activities in our country and halt the scientific and technological advancement of our country about which we are all proud of, today.

All these decisions are taken by the government to satisfy the interests of the big corporations of the US who are eyeing the vast educational ‘market’ of our country. The corporations in US have identified education sector, as the rapidly growing ‘market’ and today it is one of the biggest profit earners for them in the service sector. The US is pressurising the third world countries to open their education sector under the GATS agreement and India is unfortunately one of the few countries that has succumbed to this pressure instead of resisting it.

The signing of the defence co-operation agreement, broadly agreeing the disastrous proposals made by the joint-CEOs forum to open up the agricultural and retail sector to the US multinationals are all other examples that go on to prove the pro-US tilt of this government. The Indo-US nuclear deal is the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back. This deal further compromises our country’s interests before the US even on strategic issues like nuclear co-operation. The 123 Agreement compromises the position of our country on many issues. While the commitments made by our country are binding and are for perpetuity, some of the commitments that the US has made are either quite ambiguous or are ones that can be terminated at any future date. The 123 Agreement is subject to the Hyde Act of the US that has many conditions that adversely affect our country. Already the government is trying to satisfy these dangerous conditions as was evident during the vote against Iran in the United Nations. The growing military dependence on Israel, joint naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal with US, Japan, Australia and Singapore are examples of the government’s attempt to cosy to the demands of the imperialist forces.

All these policies of the government are intended to develop strategic ties with the US at the cost of our peoples’ interest. It is the duty of all the patriotic people of our country to resist these attempts of the government and protect our country’s interests. It is all the more important for the students and youth of our country to resist these attempts, as they are the future of this country. We will carry out an intense campaign against the pro-imperialist policies of this government and the adverse impact they have on our country in general and education in particular. State level joint action committees will be formed involving other like-minded student organisations. On September 10, 2007 the day on which the government intends to discuss the deal in the parliament, we will organise protest demonstrations against the deal and the policies of this government and put it on notice. This day will be observed as the ‘betrayal day’. We appeal all the students to join the protest demonstrations and register their protest against the government policies and live true to the rich anti-imperialist legacies of our country.