Politics is a dirty game, say many who are outside the realm of active politics. In fact, it is condescendingly acknowledged that there is no better political system known than democracy to give the conspiracy theorists an enduring platform to thrive by doing nothing constructive for society and the country.
The manner students’ leaders are trying to make a mark as a distinct political class is noticeable. While student politics is not undesirable, politicisation of student-unions may result in many adverse consequences.
Campus politics is being exploited in intensifying differences of opinions. The definition of nationalism and patriotism are debated upon as never before. A leader of a few thousand students is projected as the voice of the youth.
Amid these controversies, Shashi Tharoor got carried away and in his over 43-minute long speech on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus compared the JNU Students’ Union president and sedition accused Kanhaiya Kumar with Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Tharoor’s disparaging comment invited widespread criticism.
As for Kanhaiya, who sees no wrong in the police excesses on non-Kashmiri students of NIT for their protest against celebrating India’s loss in World T20 semi-final, he is slowly exposing his new character: Selective amnesia. Earlier, addressing students on Women’s Day, he said, “No matter how much you try to stop us, we will speak up against human rights violations. We will raise our voice against AFSPA. While we have a lot of respect for our soldiers, we will still talk about the fact that in Kashmir women are raped by security personnel.”
It cannot be denied that there are some reports of rape charges against some personnel of the Indian Armed Forces. It is appalling, but the Army as a secular institution does serve appropriate punishment to such soldiers. Moreover, the entire Army can’t be blamed for the wrongdoings of a few soldiers. Similarly, there are several cases of university students indulging in the indecent acts, but that does not give any section a moral right to demonise students. In fact, crime against women is not confined to a particular group or caste or religion. The deep-rooted patriarchy feeds on such heinous crime. And being selective in criticism defeats the cause.
Early this week, a non-event in Kashmir’s Handwara — where a schoolgirl denied having been molested by soldiers — became volatile as locals stocked rage against the Army by spreading canard about her sexual abuse. Incidentally, the girl said she was harassed by some local youths; otherwise Kanhaiya and the ilk would have blamed the Indian Army for the moral turpitude in Kashmir.
In Before Sunrise, a famous Hollywood movie, the female protagonist comments, “I have this awful paranoid thought that feminism was mostly invented by men so they could fool around a little more.” She further ridiculed how some feminists exploit women: “woman, free your mind, free your body, sleep with me. We’re all happy and free.”
The realisation of the protagonist summarises how pseudo-feminists in academics, social activists and the media exploit women. Perhaps that explains why, unfortunately, a large number of sexual harassment cases are registered in universities. Smriti Irani, the Union HRD Minister, produced a report in Parliament, which mentioned that 25 cases of sexual harassment were reported from the prestigious JNU in 2013-2014. According to data prepared by the University Grants Commission (UGC), JNU records the highest number of sexual harassment cases among 104 higher education institutions in India, despite the fact that JNU is considered to be the most liberal institution and is sensitive towards women issues.
Recently, a research scholar of sociology at JNU alleged that she was sexually abused by her supervisor. Surprisingly this professor, who was later terminated from his services, had been a JNU alumnus and an activist of the ultra-left organisations. Interestingly, no FIR was lodged against him. The incidents are not just limited to teachers exploiting students. In another case, a Phd student was accused of raping his teacher. A lot of other cases were registered where the students had either raped fellow students or outsiders. But to generalise facts to malign JNU would definitely be wrong.
Similarly, shifting the blame on a particular institution, especially armed forces in J&K is not justified. Violence against women be it in any form needs to be condemned. We completely support Kanhaiya in his protest against those security personnel who have violated women’s dignity but we would appreciate if he would do the same against the professors and students accused of sexual violence.
Kanhaiya on March 29, 2016 during a panel discussion on “Voices of Azaadi” at the “Jashne-e-azaadi” festival stated, “There is difference between Emergency and fascism. During Emergency, goons of only one party were engaged into goondaism, in this (fascism) entire State machinery is resorting to goondaism. There is difference between Gujarat riots of 2002 and 1984 anti-Sikh riots. There is a fundamental difference between a mob killing a common man and massacring people through State machinery.”
As Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president Manjit Singh GK puts it Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, HKl Bhagat and Dharamdas Shashtri, all Congress leaders, were not part of the uncontrolled mob but were directing the mobs to massacre innocent Sikhs.
A joint report by the People’s Union of Civil liberties (PUCl) and People’s Union of Democratic Rights (PUDR) on the 1984 riots, “Who Are the Guilty”, and “When a tree shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath” by journalist Manoj Mitta and lawyer HS Phoolka provides enough details of the 1984 riot.
There are innumerous first person accounts which tell how Congress leaders led the mobs which raped Sikh women, killed Sikh men and looted their homes and shops for three days in the national capital. Police weren’t just a spectator. They in fact helped the rioters by ensuring that Sikhs were disarmed before the mobs went in.
Kanhaiya, the self-proclaimed voice of all students in India, has some responsibilities. Thus for him to air such insensitive statement is unworthy of a students’ leader.
Kanhaiya, along with his fellow comrades, has paid visits to IIT and Hyderabad Central University to extend his solidarity with the Rohith Vemula’s family. They even opposed police presence in JNU and Hyderabad Central University. However he hasn’t made any statement against police entry or condemned the administration’s discriminating behaviour towards the non-local minority students in NIT Srinagar when they were brutally beaten up and women students were threatened of rape, just because they opposed firecrackers on the campus in celebration of the defeat of India in the semi-final of T20 World Cup. Most of these students had to skip their examinations and had to flee from the NIT campus to save their lives. But Kanhaiya is conspicuously silent on the issue. Is it because it goes against the position taken by his party on the issue of KashmirIJ
The revolutionary Bhagat Singh we know and adore wasn’t selective like Kanhaiya in addressing the concern of society and especially of the down-trodden. Bhagat Singh in his writing, “Why I am an atheistIJ”, originally written in Gurumukhi, criticised almost all the religions due to their orthodox ideologies. Can Kanhaiya ever dare to criticise all other religions with equal intensity as he does with HinduismIJ Does he have courage to criticise violence meted out by left organisations in equal proportionIJ The way he has blamed the Government for persisting poverty in India, can he hold the CPI and the CPI(M) responsible for poverty in Bengal and KeralaIJ The way he has shown his concern for the victims of Gujarat riots, can he utter the similar words for the Kashmiri Hindu minorityIJ No, it needs a statesman, not a budding demagogue, to be an interpid fighter of human rights.
If Kanhaiya cannot become the voice of the victims, irrespective of their castes, religion, region and ethnicity, he cannot be compared to Shahid Bhagat Singh.
(Anish Gupta teaches Economics at Delhi University. Views expressed are personal)