People's Democracy

SOLIDARITY WITH WORKING CLASS

Students March To Parliament

IT was a march with a difference. Over a thousand students under the joint Left Platform of student organisations marched on February 24 in New Delhi in defence of workers and employees right to strike and also against the black “Model Act for Universities.” The march, held under the aegis of student organisations SFI, AIDSO, AISA, AISF, DSU, PSU, SFI and VYS, began from Mandi House and concluded at Parliament street. The JNU Students Union also participated  in this march.

Simultaneously, on February 24, JNU and Delhi University along with the rest of educational institutes in the country observed a strike against the Model Act and in solidarity with the all India strike of workers and employees. While the strike in JNU was total, it was partial in the Delhi University.

Students demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Model Act in unison. Following the protest, a public meeting was held at Parliament street, which was addressed by Prasenjit Bose, SFI Delhi state secretary besides student leaders, Kavita Krishnan, Sanjay, and Renu. The speakers lambasted the proposed Model Act as an attempt by the UGC and the HRD ministry to turn university centres into teaching shops which would be subservient to the commercial and corporate interests. They emphasised that the Model Act, if implemented, would attack the autonomy of universities, subvert all democratic decision making bodies, would seek to impose massive fee hikes through complete withdrawal of government funding and completely destroy the possibility of critical academic pursuit. The HRD minister M M Joshi came under severe criticism for his successive moves to commercialise and communalise the education system of the country. The Left student organisations resolved to build a struggle which would ensure that this Act is not tabled in the Parliament.

Expressing solidarity with the striking workers nationwide, the student leaders urged upon the student community to intensify the struggle against anti-student and anti-people policies of the government.

Meanwhile, in a separate press note the JNUSU said, a complete strike was observed in JNU on February 24 at the call of the JNUSU. The strike had been called on the twin issues of opposition to the ‘Model Act for Indian Universities proposed by the UGC and in solidarity with the all India general strike called by the central trade unions in defence of Right to Strike.

The UGC proposal for a uniform Model Act for all the universities in the country is an attempt to give statutory legitimacy of the crass commercialisation and privatisation of education. The act’s proposal to make it the responsibility of universities to raise all resources internally would lead to massive  fee hikes when would deprive a large number of potential students access to education, stated the JNUSU. “The recommendation to make universities dependent on projects and consultancy from private corporations constitutes a serious attack on their academic autonomy. At the same time the UGC has sought to curtail the democratic rights of the academic community and curb the autonomy of universities by proposing to ban all political activity on campuses and give all decision making powers to nominated bodies”, noted the statement.

The strike in JNU was also in solidarity with the working class in its assertion of the right to strike. The trade unions are demanding the enactment of an appropriate legislation to remedy the situation arising out of the Supreme Court’s recent pronouncements against the right to strike. The student community too has been at the receiving end of decisions by the judiciary which are motivated by the logic of neo-liberalism and which seek to take away the democratic rights of the people. It is in this context the student community stood united with the working class in its struggle for basic rights.

After boycotting their classes, a large number of JNU students came out under the JNUSU banner to join the march to the HRD ministry called jointly by Left and democratic student organisations. Students from Delhi University, JNU and Jamia Milia Islamia came together against the UGC’s Model Act proposals. Addressing the gathering  JNUSU president Rohit pointed out how the UGC’s concept paper was a copy of the policy recommendations of the IMF and the World Bank and how its implementation would be a step towards opening up the education sector of our country under the GATS regime. He said that the attacks on democratic rights and autonomy of universities was directly linked to the attempts by the Sangh Parivar to use the education system for spreading their politics of hatred through the introduction of obscurantist and communal courses. Terming the retrograde Model Act as the manifesto placed by RSS-BJP before the student community before the Lok Sabha elections, he called for a united struggle to ensure the defeat of these fascistic forces at the hustings.  (INN)