Gone are the days when campus issues used to be at the forefront of agendas during any students’ union election. With ‘nationalism’ seen as the hot favourite choice among parties across the political lines, it is more likely that the debate ‘nationalists vs anti-nationalists’ will dominate over other topics during the upcoming Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, scheduled for September 9.
With the year witnessing series of controversies surrounding educational institutes across the country, it is likely that most of the candidates for the upcoming DUSU polls will reignite topics ranging from the controversies at FTII, Hyderabad University to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), besides taking up the general campus issues.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — which holds all the top four DUSU posts: president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary — has planned to make “nationalism” as its core issue to garner support and votes for its candidates.
After the controversial February 9 event at JNU and the suicide of Hyderabad Central University scholar Rohith Vemula, the dynamics of campus politics has changed in the country. While the leftists at JNU have started open classes on nationalism, their counterparts from the right wing have left no stone unturned to label charges of them being anti-nationals.
The debate of ‘nationalism versus anti-nationalism’ is not likely to fizz out anytime soon, with the ABVP deciding to highlight the campaign carried by the organisation in the JNU and its opposition left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA) and Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI) starting a “class to class” campaign to “expose” the “fake nationalists”.
The NSUI calls it a “facade” to “traumatise” students.
“We are going to make nationalism the main issue of the DUSU elections and also raise pitch against the anti-national elements. We are going to propagate about the campaign of the ABVP against the anti-nationals during the agitation of JNU, Hyderabad University and the events of Amnesty International in Bengaluru recently,” Saket Bahuguna, the national media convener of ABVP, told The Pioneer.
Countering him, national president of NSUI Amrita Dhawan said, “DU is being made into a battleground by the ABVP instead of talking about issues which relate to students and affect them, they are trying to twist the entire political discourse. They want to create a divide among the students on the basis of caste, religion and gender. The important thing is fake nationalism that they are trying to endorse.”
Bahuguna claimed the ABVP has been fighting for student issues on ground throughout the year in Delhi University, he said the organisation was committed to mobilise youth of the country against the “anti-national elements in academia and media.” Dhawan retorted they (ABVP) wants to threaten the autonomy of institutions and said, “The ABVP’s agenda is not nationalism. Their agenda is to damage the entire education system of this country.”
On the other hand, AISA alleged that the ABVP has “failed” in addressing the “real issues” of students thus they are “hiding these failures behind nationalism”.
“They are hiding their failure in the garb of nationalism. They have failed on all ends... Whatever their manifesto is, nothing has been fulfilled. There have been issues of concern like affordable accommodation for the DU students. Not just at student level, eventhe BJP’s last resort is nationalism because they have done nothing,” said Aman Nawaz, AISA secretary at DU.
last year, the ABVP won a seat in the left-dominated Jawaharlal Nehru University Student’s Union election.
“After what happened during the controversial events in JNU, HCU and National Institute of Technology in Srinagar, it has become clear that there is a faction in student community and academia which stood against the concept of our nation... We have raised voice against them. We have received support for this, we want to put forth that we are the organisation standing for national integrity,” the ABVP national media convener added.
Both AISA and NSUI have accused that ABVP has “suppressed all students”. “Whoever comes out to protest, no matter what the issue is, they call them anti-national. Not just students but teachers are attacked. Recently at DU, Satender Awana called Delhi University Teachers’ Association president Nandita Narrain an anti-national. They are crushing dissent and spreading regressive jingoism. Nationalism has become important for not just campus but Parliament and soon I think they will bring the debate on cow from Parliament to campus,” said AISA, while the NSUI said there was a “fear” among students to speak freely.
Bahuguna defended his organisation underlining that it is not against anyone “criticising” but “freedom of expression is not absolute in the Constitution”. “We welcome discussion and dialogue. We are not against those who want to criticise something without going out of the ambit of Constitution. Those who we call anti-nationals are the ones who supported a terrorist (Afzal Guru) and tried to insult our nation. We stand for safeguarding the unity and integrity of this country. Whoever tries to go against that, we will not tolerate it,” Bahuguna stressed.
ABVP is going to talk about its “fight against anti-nationals”. Besides this, Bahuguna emphasises upon the ABVP’s intervention in roll back of FYUP and expresses confidence about “sweeping” the polls with the work done by the ABVP nationwide.
Though the left is not very dominant in DU, there are organisations, including Student Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Federation (AISF) besides AISA will try to garner support from the students during the upcoming polls. SFI president in DU Prashant said he will fight against money, muscle power and set agenda around issues confronting students in daily life in the upcoming elections.
“We dont do mere lip service to nationalism. The upcoming elections in Delhi University has echoed the money-muscle nexus of both NSUI and ABVP, the subsequent unions of the ABVP have not been mute on the genuine issues of the campus but also sabotaged the democratic-progressive environment of DU. SFI appeals to all progressive democrations sections to join hands and to root out the nexus of money and muscle power,” said Prashant, adding, “We have been raising various issues of the students from Merit-cum-Means Scholarship(MCM) to affordable acommodation, afforable transport and food”
The elections post these controversies in DU are going to be interesting as the left and the Congress have both geared up to take on the ABVP who have been winning the seats in DU for last three years.
Students in Delhi University are protesting over the skyrocketing rates in rental accommodations around the campus and also the Bar Council of India’s intervention in the Faculty of law, which led to the reduction of seats.
While DUSU president, Satender Awana wrote a letter to Minstry of HRD and DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi regarding the issue of Faculty of law, the NSUI is launching a campaign “save my agenda and save my institution”.
“We are coming with a campaign ‘save my agenda and save my institution’. We are going to talk about the budget cut of 55 per cent by this Government and speak on what they did in FTII, Pune, Hyderabad University and JNU,” said NSUI.
AISA secretary Nawaz said, “The political dynamics are different here… There is a mass campaign. ABVP does not focus on student issues but focuses on caste politics. We want to expose the farcical politics of nationalism and focus on student issues like accommodation, transportation and gender sensitisation. Students are also worried and confused about CBCS generic and electives.”