Sahil Budhwar
UNDER the banner of ‘United Students of India’, 16 student organisations jointly gave a call for march to the parliament on January 12, 2024. This concluded into a gathering of thousands of students at Jantar Matar from all across India. The platform ‘United Students of India’ included the following organisations: AISA, AISB, AISF, CRJD, CYSS, DMK Student Wing, Dravidian Students’ Federation, DSF, NSUI, PSF, PSU, SFI, RLD Chatra Sabha, Samajwadi Chatra Sabha, Satro Mukti Sangram Samiti, and Tribal Students’ Union.
All these organisations have come together to form a larger alliance with the slogan, “Save Education, Reject NEP. Save INDIA, Reject BJP.” The slogan itself reflects the mood of the students today and it is quite evident from this march that students realise in order to save their education, they must reject the NEP and in order to save India, the nation, they must reject the BJP. This apt slogan has been taken up at a very crucial time when the next Lok Sabha elections are going to take place soon and the only way to save education and the nation is by rejecting the BJP government and its policies. These ideas become clearer as we see the progression of the gathering that happened on January 12 at Jantar Mantar.
The public meeting began with VP Sanu, all India president of Students’ Federation of India, delivering the welcome note. In his note, he highlighted various undemocratic measures of the BJP government in the recent times. He said, “A security breach happened in the parliament and instead of investigating the breach, the BJP government decided to suspend the opposition MPs who were raising pertinent questions.” Concluding the, he said, “This protest will not end here, it will continue. It will reach people, it will reach students, it will reach schools and campuses, it will reach villages. From there we will start to build a new India and that India will be secular, democratic, and it will preserve the federal values. It will ensure the rights of the students. We need a new India for that, and for that we need to reject the BJP.”
Leaders from all the different organisations spoke at the rally, addressing similar concerns related to the deteriorating situation of the education system of the country. They also spoke about the constant attack of the BJP government on the ethos and the principles of the Indian constitution and how the secular fabric is being torn apart and religion is being used by the current governement to divide the people and students from focussing on material problems of education, employment, inflation, etc.
Sujit, secretary of the Tripura Students’ Union, spoke about the situation of North-East India and how the government has completely failed to provide any relief in Tripura or even have a future plan to make things better. Talking about the situation of education in the country, he said, “The BJP wants to turn democracy into autocracy. It doesn’t want to provide the people with equal education rights. The people have long fought against this kind of autocracy and have won and similarly, through this march and the united platform, the students will emerge victorious against Modi as well.”
Near the end of the gathering, Mayukh Biswas, general secretary of the Students’ Federation of India, said, “We selected today to conduct this march because it is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand and the death anniversary of the freedom fighter Surya Sen. We follow the legacy of these great social reformers, freedom fighters, and revolutionaries while they believe in the legacy of the British stooge Savarkar. The battle line is drawn, on one side it is us who want to save the nation and on the other side it is them, who want to sell the nation. We have to fight this fight, there is no other option.”
The public meeting came to an end with Dipshita Dhar, all India joint secretary of SFI, reading out the final demands of the protesting students. The following is the charter of demands:
1. Reject National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, and Common University Entrance Test.
2. Enact Bhagat Singh National Employment Guarantee Act, ensure education and employment for all.
3. Resist fee hikes and ensure free, quality education from kindergarten to post-graduation.
4. Resist communalisation-commercialisation-centralisation of education. Uphold the democratic secular progressive scientific temperament in education.
5. Protect and create rights and opportunities for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Castes (OBCs), and other marginalised groups in education and employment. Implement reservation policy in the private sector.
6. Enact the Rohith Act and stop discrimination based on caste and economic status.
7. Establish GSCASH on every campus- Make all educational institutions free from sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Form committees against sexual harassment as directed by the Supreme Court in all educational institutions.
8. Conduct students' union elections on all campuses. Ensure the democratic rights of the academic community.
9. Roll back Agnipath scheme.
With this the protest came to an end with revolutionary songs being performed by the music group of DASTAK, a students’ cultural organisation. Before summing up, another rally as an extension to this march was announced. The rally will take place in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on February 1, 2024.
