People's Democracy

Protect Secularism, Education & Employment

National Convention of Youth & Students Calls

                                                                                      Anurag Saxena

“DURING the French presidential election this year in the month of April, when the right wing leader, Le Pen received around 17 per cent vote in the first round of elections, the progressive students and youth of the country treated this as an alarming bell for the future of their beloved nation.  For the second round of the election, students and youth were there on the streets of France for full 14 days for campaigning and ensuring the defeat of neo-nazi candidate Le Pen.  The result is for all of us to see.  Jacques Chirac has won with a record margin and Le Pen couldn’t gain more than the vote percentage he secured in the first round of election.”

“Similarly, Indian youth and students should resolve and see to it that similar dark forces in our country represented by the BJP-RSS-VHP who are hell bent upon dividing the nation on communal lines, are resisted and defeated by forging the large scale unity.” 

These were the sentiments expressed by A B Bardhan, general secretary of CPI to the hundreds of  youth and students who participated in the National Convention of Youth & Students held on May 10, 2002, in New Delhi.

Somnath Chatterjee, leader of the CPI(M) in Lok Sabha addressing the convention laid stress on the issues which still remain as a daunting task before us even after celebrating the golden jubilee of our independence.  “In Gujarat school textbooks, Hitler and Mussolini are being glorified and are being presented as idols. The important sphere of education is being poisoned while men and women are being butchered everyday. So,  the need of the hour is to unite all secular forces to resist the fascist forces in our country” emphasised  Somnath Chatterjee.

In the backdrop of continuing communal carnage in Gujarat, unleashed by the right wing reactionary BJP-RSS combine with full state patronage and the continuing deteriorating state of education and employment, eight left, progressive and democratic student & youth organisations - SFI, DYFI, AISF, AIYF, AISB, AIYL, AIPSU and RYF took upon the task of organising students & youth of this country into a massive struggle in the months to come. This National Convention, with the slogan “Protect Secularism, Education and Employment”, was the beginning of a long drawn out battle.

The convention started with the election of an eight member presidium and two member conducting team.

The presidium comprised of, among others, P Krishna Prasad, president of SFI, Sita Ram of AIYF, N N Krishna Das, president of DYFI. Mahesh Kumar, secretary of DYFI Delhi state committee was in the conducting team. 

Tapas Sinha, general secretary of DYFI, placing the resolution “To protect secularism, education and employment” before the 1000 strong delegates session stated the uncertainties being faced by the students and youth due to the failure of the successive governments to achieve the goal of granting primary and secondary education. He emphasised the need of equipping education to respond to the needs and aspirations of society, because it plays an important role in the process of social change. That is why the makers of our constitution made such promises in the preamble: for providing free and compulsory education to all children upto the age of 14 years is the state’s duty (Article 45); the responsibility of the state to promote with special care the educational interests of the weaker sections of the people (Article 46).

The resolution highlighted the negative consequences of the policies of commercialisation and privatisation of education, being implemented under the dictates of the IMF and World Bank.  The resolution also exposed the evil designs of the BJP-led NDA government at the centre to replace the scientific, secular and forward-looking education with the conservative, obscurantist and backward dragging educational system.  “It is an attempt to replace the inculcation of a spirit of inquiry and scientific thinking with the unquestioned faith in scriptures and glorification of the past”, stated the resolution.

The resolution dealt with the burning problem of unemployment which has further been aggravated because of the implementation of neo-liberal economic policies. Even the limited opportunities available are shrinking day by day leading to growing frustration among a large section of the young people. Describing the youth as a positive force in society and a large human resource with enormous potential for contributing to the development and the advancement of societies, the resolution blamed the pro-imperialist and pro-capitalist government’s for wasting this potential. It called upon  the delegates to be prepared for a long drawn out struggle to reverse these detrimental policies. It also called upon the students and  youth of the country to rise above  caste, communal and regional differences to save our beloved India. 

The resolution was unanimously adopted by the convention. 

Immediately after the placing the resolution, senior leaders of the left parties A B  Bardhan, Somnath  Chatterjee, Manoj Bhattacharya of RSP, and G Devarajan of Forward Bloc greeted the convention.  All the leaders guided the convention and impressed upon the delegates to play a crucial role in defending the unity of the country from the danger of fascist communalists. The hall was jampacked with delegates who heard the speakers with rapt attention.  Delegates from various parts of the country attended the convention braving the scorching heat.  The delegates mainly came from Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, MP, UP, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh carrying colourful banners demanding Narendra Modi’s dismissal.

Soni Thangamom, general secretary of AIYF, placed the declaration of the convention while G Devarajan proposed the vote of thanks.  The convention gave a call to organise  state level  conventions in the coming months and chalk out a detailed programme of struggle in the months of August and September.

The convention was followed by a march to parliament demanding Narendra Modi’s ouster.  Addressing the rallyists Krishna Prasad asked the participants to fight the bigots who in the name of religion are not even sparing women and children and organise students and youth for uniting the larger sections of the secular Indian society.