Thousands of students across India have been on the streets, protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) ever since the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed in both houses of Parliament and enacted into an act. There have been protests on campuses in several higher education institutions including the IITs and IIMs. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students were on strike protesting fee hike for over a month, and the protest attracted the attention of national and international media. The incidents of student protests and activism in several parts of the country have sparked a wave of fierce debate on whether students taking part in protests can be justified. Is ‘student activism’ (SA) a dirty word? What form of SA should be encouraged? What is the purpose of education?
It is unfortunate many educated people equate ‘student activism’ with protests, violence, damage, and unruly behaviour. What is SA? It is vigorous action of students as a body in support of or opposition to any issue that leads to reforms or brings about some change in the system. Students boycotting classes to protest against anything that they feel is unjust, issuing a statement in support of or opposition to some controversial issues, campaigning for or against something, staging demonstrations demanding a rollback of fee hike, raising slogans condemning police violence, and so on, are examples of student activism. It is always for a good cause.
For or against?
Recently, when I initiated a discussion on the topic whether student activism can be justified, Francis Sebastian, an educator who is actively involved in youth formation, commented, “Activism is always good and it depends on how we understand it. Every human being should be an activist and work for change and development of their society. Young people should be activists for the development of the nation. Nation means people and their rights and development...”. Yes, it is every student’s moral responsibility to be an engaged citizen, express his/her views on social issues, and work towards the betterment of society.
Student activism is not new in India. The All India Student Federation (AISF) that was founded on August 12, 1936 was involved in the Indian freedom struggle. Initially, AISF had this slogan: “Freedom, Peace and Progress” and in 1958, it came up with the slogan “Study & Struggle”. In the past, the country has witnessed some remarkable student protests including Nav Nirman Andolan Reconstruction protests (1974), Anti-Sri Lanka protests (2013), and protests over Suicide of Dalit Scholar Rohit Vemula (2016).
In January 2017, students across Tamil Nadu boycotted classes and took part in pro-jallikattu protests in a peaceful manner and succeeded in making the state government pass a bill exempting jallikattu from the prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, thus legalising the bull-taming sport. The pro-jallikattu student protests proved to the world that students can bring about social change.
Informed choices
A few months ago, inspired by 16-year-old Swedish student activist Greta Thunberg, young students in several countries boycotted their classes and took part in Global Climate strike. They expressed their protest against governments’ callous attitude and inaction against climate change.
The purpose of education is to help students become informed and engaged citizens who are aware of what is happening in their society and respond responsibly to the challenges they face. Student should be trained to look at issues critically and encouraged to take an active role in creating a better society. They should be educated to dissent in a reasoned manner and fight for a right cause. Student activism should be in line with the purpose of education. Peaceful protests and non-violent campaigns are an effective way to achieve social change. Student activism is a beautiful word and responsible citizens should make it more beautiful by understanding students, helping them channelise their energy in the right direction and sustain their interest in the society and humanity.
The writer is an academic, columnist and freelance writer. rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
