People's Democracy

Campus Democracy Held Hostage in HP Varsity: SFI

THROUGH a statement issued from New Delhi on May 15, the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Students Federation of India (SFI) has expressed its solidarity with the Himachal Pradesh committee of the SFI which is facing a relentless attack from the ruling classes and continues to put a brave fight.

In the latest attack, the vice chancellor (VC) of the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), A D N Bajpeye, has dissolved the elected students union (called the Students Central Association, SCA) of the university, on the pretext of violence in the campus. A D N Bajpeye is a known RSS-man who was appointed as the VC during the reign of the previous BJP government in the state and he has, on numerous instances, acted in favour of the right wing communal forces such as the ABVP on the campus.

It is to be noted that for some time the leadership of the HPU unit as well as the state unit of the SFI had repeatedly been telling the university administration and the police that the ABVP was trying to create conditions of confrontation on the campus, but no action was taken for so long. However, on May 13, when the entrance examinations in the university started and all organisations were engaged in the students assistance work, the ABVP attacked the SFI’s help desk and caused serious injuries to many of the students. Yet both the administration and the police acted in a clearly partisan manner and foisted false cases against 28 SFI activists; some have even been charged with an attempt to murder; while not a single ABVP man has been booked till now.

It was by taking this incident as a pretext that the VC dissolved the elected SCA, which was yet to complete its full term. Paramilitary forces were called into the campus and they flag marched in the hostels at night, as if it were a riot situation. Then, on the morning of May 14, the forces deployed on the campus stopped students from entering the library, and the posters inside the campus were torn.

It needs to be stressed that the SFI led SCA has so far successfully blocked all attempts at privatisation and commercialisation of education in the campus, and it determinedly opposed the hike in the mess charges or the recent hike in the price of the prospectus. The SFI’s continuous work among the students as well as its campaign against privatisation of education in the state has given the organisation immense prestige in the state, which can’t be undone even by any ruthless use of state apparatus. It was this work that could make the issue of privatisation of education a major issue in the assembly elections too, held last year, and did contribute to some extent in the loss of the BJP.

The Sangh Parivar’s frustration over this loss is clearly visible in the recent desperation of the RSS and ABVP as well as of the administration which is clearly showing its saffron colour. However, they would do well to remember that time and again the SFI has emerged victorious by facing, overcoming and rebuffing such severe attacks.

The Central Executive Committee of the Students’ Federation of India has expressed confidence that students and other democratic sections in the state would again rally behind the SFI’s correct politics and perspective; and reject the politics of goondaism. It is also quite imperative to note that such trends are not confined to Himachal Pradesh only but reflect an assault on campus democracy throughout the country.

The SFI CEC has called for an intensification of struggle for campus democracy, adding that the HPU incident acquires more importance after Comrade Sudipta Gupta’s martyrdom in West Bengal.