Heroic Struggle of Students Ends InVictory

Aboo Backer

A HEROIC struggle, braving the brutal repression of the bloodthirsty Antony government’s police, of the students of Kerala against commercialisation of education has ended in victory. The Antony government was forced to concede major demands of the agitating students in an agreement it reached with the students on August 10. With the failure of its desperate attempts to crush the growing struggle of students, the government came to the table for talks. It conceded demands of the striking student unions relating to the fee structure in self-financing colleges, the management-merit-quota and reduction in fees for degree courses, SSLC examination and a few other services such as computer education.

The hated UDF government, true to its mindset, was adamant that this democratic struggle should not win so that its masters – the traders of education – should remain pleased and appeased. However, the way it was forced to concede to the demands, it was clearly a slap on the anti-people policies of the government. The bourgeoisie media, which tried to malign the students and the previous LDF government, received a severe blow when the two month long struggle ended the way it did. The parallel struggle launched by various teacher organisations on these issues also played a part in bringing the arrogant Antony government to its senses. E Vijayan, state president of the Kerala School Teachers Association along with six other leaders of teacher organisations had begun an indefinite hunger strike in Thiruvananthapuram on August 6. It was inaugurated by the former chief minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member E K Nayanar.

The leaders of various student organisations have welcomed the settlement on the basis of which the strike has been withdrawn. The eleven day long hunger strike before the secretariat was also withdrawn with the fasting students drinking the lemon water provided to them by the leader of opposition in the assembly and CPI(M) Polit Buro member V S Achutanandan  and CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. The DYFI has announced that it was withdrawing its boycott of the ministers in the wake of the settlement.

With the enthusiastic implementation of liberalisation, the UDF government is in the process of withdrawing from governance. Like in all other social fields, it wants to completely evade its responsibility of providing education to all according to merit, not according to the quantum of money one could afford to. The government is increasingly being converted into an agency that coordinates the interests of the various groups of private individuals and enterprises. Education has also been converted into a profit-making business. 

The people of Kerala are realising that this worthless government would exterminate all the achievements and attainments of Kerala.  They have rightly decided that struggle was the only way to prevent this. Students and teachers first, and later the youth followed the struggle path. The working masses of the state were ready to take up cudgels on behalf of the students if the government persisted with its confrontationist attitude. In the end, however, some sense was apparently drilled into the government which came to a negotiated settlement with the students.