People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 06
February 09, 2003
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVII No. 06 February 09, 2003 |
THE
Students
Federation
of
India
(SFI)
is
holding
its
11th
all-India
conference
at
Kozhikkode,
Kerala,
from
February
14
to
18.
The
event
comes
at
a
time
when
the
students
and
youth
all
over
India,
along
with
other
class
and
mass
organisations,
are
launching
a
series
of
struggles
on
the
question
of
education
and
employment,
and
against
the
anti-people
policies
of
the
BJP-led
NDA
government.
Representing
28,69,918
members
of
the
organisation,
750
delegates
will
participate
in
the
five-day
conference.
A
huge
students
rally
will
be
organised
on
February
14,
to
be
addressed
among
others
by
Jyoti
Basu.
Prior
to
the
all-India
conference,
more
than
two
lakh
students
have
participated
in
the
conferences
from
the
unit
to
the
state
level,
so
as
to
further
strengthen
and
expand
the
base
of
the
organisation.
The
imperialist
globalisation
brings
unprecedented
misery
to
the
common
man
all
over
the
world
by
imposing
neo-colonialism
over
the
developing
countries.
India’s
economic
sovereignty
is
under
attack;
its
resources
and
wealth
are
being
looted
by
imperialist
powers.
It
is
high
time
to
prepare
for
a
second
independence
struggle
to
free
the
country
from
the
stranglehold
of
international
finance
capital
and
Indian
monopolists.
The
SFI
is
one
student
organisation
in
the
country,
which
has
been
in
the
forefront
of
struggles
against
this
assault
and
against
the
anti-people,
anti-education
policies
being
pursued
by
the
NDA
government
at
the
diktat
of
imperialist
powers.
The
student
movement
in
our
country
has
an
impressive
legacy
of
anti-imperialist
struggle
against
the
British
colonial
rule.
Academic
Association,
a
pioneering
student
organisation
of
our
country,
was
formed
even
before
the
formation
of
Indian
National
Congress.
The
Association
was
inspired
by
the
ideas
of
“Equality,
Liberty
and
Fraternity”
proclaimed
by
the
French
Revolution.
Many
of
the
students
stood
in
the
forefront
of
struggle
for
our
country’s
independence
and
sacrificed
their
lives
for
this
noble
cause.
The
great
martyrs
of
the
anti-colonial
struggle
like
Bhagat
Singh,
Chandrashekhar
Azad,
Udham
Singh,
Khudiram
Bose,
Madan
Lal
Dhingra,
Hemu
Kalani,
Chitharanjan
Thakkurdha
and
Lal
Padma
Dhar
were
students
when
they
plunged
into
this
battle.
Since
its
formation
in
December
1970,
the
SFI
has
been
fighting
for
the
genuine
cause
of
the
student
community,
thus
becoming
a
speck
in
the
eyes
of
the
ruling
classes.
The
Indian
state
did
not
make
any
significant
effort
to
fulfil
the
constitutional
obligation
about
universal
and
compulsory
elementary
education.
Its
effort
has
been
to
make
education
cater
to
the
needs
of
capitalist
development
by
limiting
it
to
a
privileged
few.
The
SFI
fought
the
challenge
of
Emergency
amid
a
series
of
attacks,
trials
and
imprisonment,
emerging
as
the
real
successor
of
the
student
movement
that
was
born
in
the
turbulent
phase
of
anti-imperialist
struggle.
Now
the
economic
policies
of
the
BJP-led
NDA
dispensation
have
become
a
menace
to
the
toiling
masses
and
a
serious
threat
to
national
interest.
On
the
pretext
of
bringing
down
fiscal
deficit,
the
government
is
curtailing
its
expenditure
on
all
social
sectors
including
education.
The
BJP-led
regime’s
promise
in
its
last
election
manifesto
to
allocate
10
per
cent
of
its
budget
to
education
and
to
strengthen
the
public
education
system
has
proved
to
be
a
cruel
hoax.
The
central
government’s
decision
to
get
rid
of
the
subsidies
for
education
is
leading
to
an
ouster
of
the
poor
from
the
realm
of
education.
The
government
funding
for
higher
education
is
being
systematically
curtailed.
The
UGC
has
issued
a
circular
to
the
universities,
asking
them
to
generate
25
per
cent
of
their
recurring
expenditure
from
internal
sources;
this
has
led
to
a
massive
fee
hike
in
the
institutions
of
higher
learning.
The
state
is
promoting
“quality
education”
in
the
interest
of
the
rich,
based
on
the
“user
pay
principle.”
As
a
result,
meritorious
students
are
getting
thrown
out
of
the
realm
of
education.
Merit
is
getting
substituted
by
money,
further
leading
to
a
qualitative
decline
in
the
field
of
professional
education
and
research
in
natural
sciences,
social
sciences
and
technology.
During
the
last
four
years,
there
has
been
a
ruthless
and
systematic
assault
on
the
secular
fabric
of
the
polity
also.
The
Hindutva
forces,
using
state
power,
are
giving
priority
to
transforming
the
academic
ethos
by
infiltrating
RSS
loyalists
into
various
academic
and
cultural
institutions
such
as
the
ICHR,
ICSSR,
Indian
Institute
of
Advanced
Studies,
NCERT,
UGC,
NIEPA,
Archaeological
Survey
of
India,
Nehru
Yuvak
Kendra,
and
so
forth.
They
are
determined
to
communalise
the
entire
education
system
in
order
to
create
an
environment
where
the
seeds
of
the
RSS’
political
agenda
can
easily
be
nurtured
and
the
young
minds
indoctrinated
with
its
pernicious
ideology.
The
UGC
and
the
central
government,
that
cite
finance
crunch
when
confronted
with
arguments
against
commercialisation,
have
no
qualms
in
allotting
crores
of
rupees
to
universities
and
colleges
that
are
willing
to
introduce
obscurantist
courses
like
Jyotish
Shastra
and
Karmakand.
Hence
the
warning
the
SFI’s
10th
all-India
conference
gave:
“The
ideological-political
character
and
content
of
a
communal-fascist
education
policy
implies
a
very
centralised
and
undemocratic
administrative
structure
alongside
a
content
comprising
the
scum
of
Hindu
revivalism,
a
rabid
anti-minority
hatred,
and
anti-rationalism,
anti-pluralism
and
obscurantism
and
a
stinking
racial
and
cultural
prejudice.
In
short,
a
system
that
systematically
geared
up
to
kill
the
faculties
of
criticism,
creativity
and
innovation.”
The
conference
identified
the
urgent
need
to
fight
the
menace
of
communalisation
and
commercialisation
of
education
and
also
stressed
the
need
to
build
a
joint
movement
with
all
the
Left
and
progressive
student
and
youth
organisations
all
over
India.
THRUST
OF
ACTIVITIES
Since
its
10th
all-India
conference,
the
SFI
has
been
working
hard
to
strengthen
the
struggles
against
such
policies,
communal
threats
and
saffronisation
drive,
and
to
build
a
movement
all
over
India.
The
last
three
years
have
witnessed
resounding
and
widespread
student
agitations
all
over
the
country.
The
struggles
on
basic
issues
facing
the
students
community,
and
against
communalisation
and
commercialisation
of
education,
suppression
of
democratic
rights
of
the
academic
community
and
against
educational
backwardness
were
carried
out
all
over
India.
Some
of
these
were
at
the
local/district
level,
some
at
the
state
level
and
others
at
the
national
level.
A
massive
March
To
Parliament
was
organised
on
November
27,
2000
at
the
call
of
the
SFI
and
DYFI
to
save
education
and
employment.
Thousands
of
students
from
all
over
the
country,
especially
the
Hindi
heartland,
joined
this
march.
Organised
by
the
SFI
and
DYFI,
such
marches
acted
as
a
trendsetter
for
student-youth
mobilisations
the
capital
city
witnessed
in
recent
times.
On
the
same
day,
a
call
was
given
for
an
All
India
Student
Strike
on
January
19,
2001,
which
was
a
splendid
success.
Prior
to
the
Parliament
March,
massive
signature
campaigns,
student-youth
jathas
and
state
level
rallies
were
also
organised.
All
through
the
next
academic
year,
the
organisation
concentrated
on
state
level
agitations;
rallies
and
militant
agitations
were
organised
in
different
parts
of
the
country.
Along
with
the
DYFI,
a
second
Parliament
March
was
organised
on
November
21,
2002
during
the
winter
session
of
parliament,
on
the
question
of
employment
and
education.
The
state’s
attempts
to
sabotage
the
movement
were
all
in
vain;
SFI
activists
stood
firm
in
front
of
the
brutal
police
attacks
and
imprisonments.
Over
15
thousand
students
and
youth
came
together,
to
make
the
march
successful.
The
10th
all-India
conference
laid
emphasis
on
the
need
to
take
initiative
in
bringing
the
Left-oriented
student
organisations
to
a
common
platform
on
the
issues
concerning
the
student
masses
and
facing
the
education
system.
Many
steps
were
taken
in
this
regard.
A national
level
joint
convention
of
Leftist
youth
and
students
was
organised
on
May
10,
2002,
at
New
Delhi.
State
level
conventions
were
held
in
most
of
the
states
in
pursuance
of
the
call
given
by
the
May
10
convention.
There
is
no
need
to
iterate
how
important
it
is,
in
the
present
milieu,
to
carry
forward
and
strengthen
the
Left
unity
and
joint
struggles,
along
with
the
SFI’s
independent
initiatives.
At
the
call
of
the
10th
conference
to
draw
newer
sections
into
the
movement,
the
SFI’s
all-India
centre
took
initiative
in
building
the
sectoral
movements.
It
organised
conventions
and
workshops
of
various
sections
of
the
student
community.
After
the
all-India
girl
students’
workshop
(Urang,
Maharashtra,
February
2001),
the
SFI
organised
an
all-India
girl
students’
convention
(Halishahar,
West
Bengal,
July
2002),
the
first
of
its
kind.
Both
these
efforts
helped
to
smoothen
the
process
of
building
a
movement
among
girl
students
all
over
India.
The
university
students
and
research
scholars
workshop
at
New
Delhi
and
the
third
all-India
university
students
convention
at
Vishakhapattanam
have
also
benefited
the
organisation.
A convention
of
agriculture
science
students
was
organised
at
Hisar,
Haryana
in
this
period.
Serious
efforts
were
made
to
regularise
the
Student
Struggle,
the
journal
of
SFI,
after
the
last
all-India
conference.
It
was
the
centre
of
serious
concern
during
the
discussions
in
the
consecutive
all-India
conferences;
some
of
the
delegates
also
quoted
V
I
Lenin’s
words
that
“an
organisation
without
a
journal
is
like
a
person
without
tongue.”
As
a
result
of
the
serious
efforts
by
the
all-India
centre,
the
Student
Struggle
has
been
regularised
as
a
monthly
organ;
26
issues
were
published
after
the
last
conference,
out
of
which
the
last
18
issues
came
out
consistently.
And
now,
the
journal
is
reaching
by
post
to
all
subscribers
and
is
ideologically
equipping
the
rank
and
file
of
the
SFI.
The
organisation
also
took
initiative
in
publishing
a
series
of
booklets
in
order
to
arm
the
student
community
with
ideological
precision
and
to
equip
them
to
face
the
current
challenges.
It
is
extremely
important
to
take
the
Student
Struggle
to
the
campuses
as
part
of
the
SFI’s
ideological
struggles,
as
a
true
weapon
for
politicisation
of
the
academic
community.
The
college
union
elections
last
year
were
held
in
the
backdrop
of
a
series
of
struggles
that
were
launched
against
the
anti-student
and
anti-national
education
and
economic
policies
of
the
governments
in
the
states
and
at
the
centre.
The
SFI
emerged
victorious
in
many
prestigious
universities
such
as
the
JNU,
Himachal
Pradesh
University
while
its
supported
front
won
in
the
Hyderabad
Central
University.
The
SFI
also
won
in
all
the
universities
in
Kerala
and
West
Bengal,
in
Udaipur
Agricultural
University
(Rajasthan)
and
also
in
many
college
unions
in
various
states.
No
doubt
the
election
results
are,
to
an
extent,
an
indicator
to
the
future
of
Indian
campuses
and
the
beginning
of
a
new
epoch
of
struggles.
The
uncompromising
struggles
against
communal
frenzy
and
neo-liberal
policies,
the
initiatives
in
ideological
fight,
the
confidence
created
with
election
victories,
etc,
have
all
helped
the
organisation
expand
in
many
states.
The
SFI’s
membership
has
crossed
the
long
stagnating
position
of
25
lakhs
and
increased
to
28,69,918.
Though
the
current
weakness
of
uneven
growth
continues,
with
the
lion’s
share
of
the
membership
coming
from
strong
states,
many
weak
states
registered
marked
and
systematic
growth
in
membership.
It
is
in
the
backdrop
of
such
a
situation
and
of
such
diverse
experiences
of
struggles
and
movement
building
that
the
SFI
is
now
all
set
to
hold
its
11th
all-India
conference.
The
conference
is
to
discuss
and
adopt
an
updated
draft
programme
and
constitution
for
the
SFI.
The
political
discourses
and
ideological
debates
that
have
taken
place
in
the
run-up
to
the
updating
of
SFI
programme
will
certainly
strengthen
the
organisation
in
many
ways.
It
is
important
for
streamlining
the
organisation
to
face
the
current
challenges
posed
by
imperialist
globalisation.
In
the
background
of
new
developments
all
over
the
world,
sticking
to
its
ideological
and
political
perspective,
preserving
the
organisation’s
mass
character
and
emphasising
its
role
in
social
transformation
will
be
taken
proper
care
of
while
undertaking
the
updating
exercise.
The
updated
programme
to
be
adopted
by
the
coming
conference
will
boost
the
SFI’s
advance
as
the
leading
student
organisation.
There
is
no
doubt
that
the
SFI
has
made
commendable
achievements
in
membership
enrolment,
in
ideological
battles
and
election
victories.
Yet
much
more
remains
to
be
done
to
strengthen
the
organisation
in
order
to
face
the
challenges
of
the
reaction
that
aims
to
reinforce
the
ruling
class
hegemony
by
forging
apoliticisation
of
the
campuses,
among
other
things.
The
11th
SFI
conference
will
chalk
out
a
series
of
programmes
and
agitations
to
confront
precisely
such
new
challenges,
to
inspire
the
organisation
and
further
its
struggles
by
sharpening
its
weapons
against
the
menace
of
neo-imperialism
and
communal
fascism.
(K
K
Ragesh
is
a
joint
secretary
of
the
SFI.)
