“I will not join any political party or start a new one. I am a research scholar and I want to teach. But, I will strive hard to build an organic link between social and political movement for which a vibrant students’ union election in educational institutions is a prerequisite,” said Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is in the city to attend a few programmes.
Stating that many States had banned student union elections, including Karnataka, Mr. Kumar said even States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where the successive Chief Ministers came from student unions, have imposed the ban as they do not want new political leaders to emerge and challenge the established order.
“There is a suffocating atmosphere in the country, seriously curtailing the freedom of expression, a basic right. Students are being punished, gagged for expressing their opinions. Even though it's many months since Najeeb Ahmed, a first year bio-tech student in JNU, went missing no action has been taken yet,” he said, adding that no action had been initiated against the three ABVP students who had a fight with him last.
This clearly shows how the autonomy of institutions is being compromised, he said, coming down heavily on the Vice Chancellor of JNU.
“I and other student union leaders want student union elections to be allowed in every educational institution in the country. Even the Lyngdoh Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, recommended the same,” he said.
Mr. Kumar also highlighted the wide divide that existed between social and political movements in the country. He said issues raised in social movements were not becoming political questions, while the political parties had lost touch with the society.
Molestation case
Criticising the Karnataka Government and Home Minister G. Parameshwara for the new year fiasco on Brigade Road, Mr. Kumar said, “It is sad to see the Home Minister raise such questions about women and blame them rather that being worried about the molesters.”
He also said that the Congress government in Karnataka was not very different from the Union government. “Both have booked students for sedition,” he said.
