“Campus Politics, as an issue, is not a new one. The phenomenon has been around for years. The idea of injecting college campus with political air is manifold. Not only is politics an end result of ideas, thoughts, & actions, the proper understanding of the dynamics of politics are essential for the survival of democracy. Off late, however, campus politics has taken a rather sinister turn in many universities across India”. A tree-lined entrance, an imposing building, vibrant classrooms, & a quaint canteen with open air benches in one corner of the campus-this is the utopian college milieu we all dream of. College is essentially being used as a platform to nurture and enhance one’s inherent skills & reach one’s goals in the spirit of youth. Here is an opinion piece from Varun Sood, MBA Batch 2011, ICFAI, Hyderabad questioning the very basics of student politics... read on
If that’s the case, where does the ominous banshee of “politics” & political ideas erupt to haunt us? Let’s examine the issue of student participation in politics and the academic cost involved & whether it is an avoidable exercise or ever an worthwhile aspect of the learning process.
The landmark judgment of the Division Bench of Kerala High Court empowering principals of respective colleges to ban any sort of political activity in the campus has led to many heated debates recently. The issue moved into focus when a student was debarred from appearing for the examinations due to lack of requisite attendance- the underlying reason being his participation in politics. So what then is the right thing to do?
The way out
Don’t ban student participation: The ideas in favor of student participation in politics are varied, the bedrock being that politics and society are inseparable. Albert Einstein once observed:” It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacity to give validity to his conviction in political affairs”. The ignorance of politics among the masses of the country paves the way for the rise of tyranny and the fall of democracy. The right to govern belongs to every citizen and so political science, knowledge of which ultimately secures for the citizenry justice, liberty, equality, dignity of the individual and the integrity of the nation can never be alienated from the concern of the community. It is a grave default therefore, to deny to the population at any level the right and, indeed, the duty to acquire a basic knowledge of local, national, and global political forces. Thus, cutting out the air of politics from colleges will essentially rob young minds of the oxygen of freedom. Also, the banning of politics from campuses has a legal dimension. The legality of the ban was in fact challenged as violations of Section 19i (a) & (c) of the constitution by the student. The court ruled that students are allowed to attend only official meetings. This delivers one to the next point- the order in itself is self discriminatory.
Some perspectives
If studied within the highly politicized & communalized educational environment, the propagation of the ideologies & practices of the heads of the institutions will become almost autocratic and unchallenged. Another aspect to deleting political awareness and thought from the minds college students is that at the end of the day, there will be no opposition left to do anything. Opposition by the nature is a damper to the movement of thoughts and ideas but is essential. For example, if the university was to arbitrarily decide on imposing a dress code not desirable to students or to shut down colleges only because the r are not profitable any more, then there would be no opposition to such plans. Thus the arguments for the inclusion of politics are based on the right to expression and the use of politics to emancipate the students mind.
The end verdict is that even tough politics requires considerable time, it is time well spent in developing the political instincts of an individual and in turn making him into a better citizen.
The other side
The flipside of the argument also has some strong supporting pillars. To start off, by making politicians out of students is fundamentally wrong. Politics is the business of the shrewd and crafty, not young and energetic people who have abundance of energy and enthusiasm but need direction and guidance. To be able to lead a group of youngsters towards a common political goal requires acumen coupled with experience and wisdom. If energetic but inexperienced people get into the act and are given authority, it would lead to more bad than good. Secondly, once the practice of politics is let lose on campuses, there will; be definite competition of interest between academics and politics. Protests, dharnas, marches, etc. are time consuming activities which, to be hones, yield very little ate the end of the day. Creation of alternative power centers within and organization is bad enough worse if it is an educational institution. The process of holding an election, voting in representatives, holding public meetings about issues needs time and money. Talented students end up wasting a great deal of time in such activities, which otherwise could have been spent in more productive activities, all this only if things move without eventuality. Dire consequences of injecting the venom of politics in students have been witnessed in the past and still continue. The abduction of candidates standing in elections, politics related violence, injuring of people of opposing political ideologies, and the murder of an opponent is what campus politics comes down to in many universities.
Mumbai university banned student politics after abduction of candidates and violence had become commonplace in 1994. Today, sans politics, the system runs like a fine tuned machine-leaner, fitter and without too many unnecessary hindrances. Highly avoidable and odious fallout of student politics is that it is almost converted into a placement cell for political parties seeking young and energetic recruits. Moreover, some of the fines politicians India has ever had, have kept away from campus politics- Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi to name a few.
Thus, student politics can also be viewed as the veritable ghost that looms in campuses and distracts young and creative minds, distorts their future and manages to systematically decimate the peace and harmony on the campus.
An individual call
The line one tows is entirely a personal decision. While politics in campuses can be projected as the best tool to liberate an individual from the general disinterest in politics and society and as a platform to develop into not only better students but also into better citizens in an democratic society, there is far more dangerous connotation implied but neglected. It will serve the purpose only till it sticks to its utopian model designed to help students learn and grow.. Once it sets out on the path of violence and chronic discord, it converts into a formidable and monstrous ill.
It would be best to take a deeper look at whether the propensity to convert politics into a bloody and violently juggernaut can be controlled or even eliminated.
Last Updated on Thursday, 04 March 2010 05:32.
Developed by Indian company Notion Ink and the brain child of Rohan Shravan, an engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur , the Adam runs on NVIDIA’s Tegra T20 chipset and Android. It supports 1080p Full HD video playback, has integrated WiFi, Bluetooth and UMTS/HSDPA, A-GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and proximity, ambient light and water sensors.