Launching a sharp attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for trying to turn India into a “Hindu majoritarian fascist country, instead of a secular democratic one”, the new Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) council warned that the government should not use the Uri attack to “cover up its own inadequacies”.
Resolutions made available after the JNUSU’s first council meeting held on September 19 also pointed to the grave dangers of “saffornising education”.
After the closely-followed students’ union elections, the new council condemned the efforts of the RSS and various members of the Modi government to “undermine India’s secular democracy”. The JNUSU, in fact, called for “an all-out resistance against the RSS-dictated offensive.” It also condemned attempts by the BJP-led NDA government towards “fascist indoctrination by way of saffronisation of education” and called upon all progressive sections to “unite against the concerted attempts to indoctrinate young minds”.
The council mentioned the introduction of Dinanath Batra’s books in Gujarat, the man believed to be responsible for getting publishers to withdraw Wendy Doniger’s book from stores and forcing Delhi University to drop A.K Ramanujan’s essay on ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas’ from the course.
The council said that “such assaults that aim to promote the concept of Hindu Rashtra are a threat to the development of critical faculties among children and young adults”.
Violence against minorities brought up
The meeting, which was attended by 28 members of the JNUSU, saw 61 resolutions being passed. These ranged from solving campus-centric issues like construction of more hostels and strengthening the gender sensitisation committee to condemning the “undeterred violence of the cow vigilante groups on Muslims and Dalits in different parts of the country”.
The students’ union also addressed the attack in Uri and said that the government “should not use it to cover up its own inadequacies and failure to address and resolve the Kashmir situation in a democratic way, and to secure military bases from terrorist attacks.” The JNUSU also expressed deep concern over the repression and civilian killings in Kashmir saying that they “stand against any attempts by the state to unleash violence on innocent civilians under any pretext”.
The JNUSU council also rejected the government’s ‘Make in India’ slogan calling it “a way to give away India’s rich land, forest, mineral and water resources on a platter to crony corporates and MNCs and erode all existing safeguards on labour rights and people’s rights over natural resources of the country.”
Taking forward the mandate of the previous union, the new union reiterated its resolve to intensify the struggle against the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, calling it an attempt to curb democracy on campuses by imposing the World Bank dictate, anti-student, and anti-democratic provisions.
It resolved to strengthen the struggle for restoring campus democracy and organising students’ union elections on campuses across the country based on pro-student and democratic principals and participation.
Council calls ‘Make in India’ “a way to give away India’s resources on a platter to crony corporates and MNCs
