THE 20th state conference of Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in Tripura was held on October 17-18, 2022 at Agartala. The open session, held on October 17 in the auditorium of Town Hall, was attended by a house full of participants. Apart from the delegates coming from different parts of the state, there were representatives from youth, teachers and other mass organisations.

The conference started with hoisting of SFI flag and paying floral tributes to the martyrs. The open session was addressed by former students’ leader and ex-minister Ratan Bhowmik, who is presently an MLA. Also among the speakers were SFI all India general secretary Mayukh Biswas, SFI all India president V P Sanu, SFI state secretary Sandipan Deb, SFI state president Suleman Ali and conference preparatory committee chairperson Professor Bhupal Sinha. Former students’ leader Ratan Bhowmik in his speech came down heavily on the new education policy of the union government. He mentioned that the ruling party has been trying to impose divisive politics even in education sector.

The delegate session started in the afternoon of October 17. Opening speech was delivered by SFI all India president V P Sanu. Among the speakers of this session were former MP Jitendra Chaudhury, former students’ leader Pabitra Kar, Tribal Students’ Union (TSU) central committee general secretary Sujit Tripura and teachers’ organisation leader Shaibal Roy. State secretary Sandipan Deb placed the political and organisational report, on which discussion started in the evening. Former MP Jitendra Chaudhury, in his speech, made a call to the students to inculcate social consciousness among the new generation. He mentioned about the tall talks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming concocted development stories in the last eight years. Although the PM and other leaders of the BJP never tire of claiming imaginary achievements, the fact remains that India has been slipping continuously in almost all indicators of development. Most recent example of which is Global Hunger Index (GHI), in which India has slipped further to 107th place, out of 121 countries, compared to last year’s 101st position. Even Pakistan is in a better place compared to India. He told that the country is slipping not only in the matter of hunger, but in every respect, including unemployment, poverty, education, living standards etc. BJP government has been pushing the whole country to a disastrous situation. The ruling party knows that their days will be over once the people get united. For this, they are trying their level best to keep people divided. With a view to create deep fissures among the people, the ruling party is trying to introduce divisive politics in the education sector also. The situation is so serious that the students and the youth cannot remain idle spectators. They have to come forward in the struggle against the anti-people policies of the government, not only in the education sector, but also in every sector of life. For this, students must be organised. The SFI has to go from campus to campus to organise students.

Former students’ leader Pabitra Kar told in his speech that the students need to become conscious of the hard reality. SFI has to take up the task of organising students and build up progressive students’ movement.

SFI all India president V P Sanu mentioned in his speech that the RSS driven BJP government has been destroying every sector of the country, including the education sector.

The delegate session continued on the next day, on October 18. This day’s session was addressed by former students’ leader and the leader of the opposition in the state assembly Manik Sarkar, SFI all India general secretary Mayukh Biswas, DYFI state secretary Nabarun Deb and others. Manik Sarkar told that the education sector cannot be made free if the present government continues. He mentioned that the situation is turning in favour of the people, who want peace and solidarity, who are in support of democracy and against corruption and all types of divisive policies. He tore down the new education policy mentioning that the ultimate aim of the policy is to create divisions and anti-science temperament among people. The policy also aims at manipulating history. On one hand the government is trying to manipulate the education sector, while on the other they are trying to divide people in the name of religion, caste, language, region, food habits, clothes etc. He called on the students to stand firm against the anti-people policies of the government. They have to take active role in people’s movement. Speaking about the state, he mentioned that the state government led by the BJP is following the harmful policies of the union government in all respects. They have completely failed in every aspect in the state. To save face, they changed the chief minister barely ten months before the assembly election. The irony is that the earlier CM received pat on the back by none other than the PM, who termed him as the best CM of the country, but only after two months of such recognition, BJP went for a change of the CM. Manik Sarkar told in clear terms that the state has started experiencing a wind of change. This wind is to be strengthened, for which the students have a got a very important role to play.

SFI all India general secretary Mayukh Biswas asked the SFI activists to increase the reach of the organisation. He advised them to devote more time to equip themselves with the ideological knowledge. He also asked the SFI activists to invariably reach the poor students and bring their issues and problems to the forefront. DYFI state secretary Nabarun Deb told that the SFI is fighting hard in a very difficult situation both in the state and in the whole country. The fight must be continued with head held high. 

A total of 402 delegates, braving the terror tactics of the ruling dispensation, participated in the conference. In total, 30 delegates participated in the discussion on the draft political and organisational report placed by the state secretary and expressed their views and opinions. The crisis brought in the education sector by the wrongful policies of the government along with the attack on the democratic rights of people let loose by the ruling party, were the main points of the constructive discussion of the delegates. Later on, state secretary Sandipan Deb replied to the queries made by the delegates. A total of seven proposals were accepted in the conference. In the last session a new state committee comprising 85 members was formed. As many as 75 members of the new committee are new faces. Also a new state secretariat comprising 19 members was formed. Suleman Ali and Sandipan Deb were reelected as the president and the secretary respectively. The 20th state conference ended with great enthusiasm among the students.