A five-pointer on why it is important for every student to speak up now:
1. Jamia
Under the garb of maintaining public safety, the police entered the college library and hostels, on December 16, where students were not engaging in any protest. They were unarmed.
The university is now a battlefield.
The clear objective of the state is to demean the institution, shut any dissent, discourage future protests against the government and polarise society into ‘Us versus Them’.
Today it’s Jamia and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), tomorrow it could be your campus.
2. JNU
Fee rise. The exorbitant increase in the hostel (30 times) and mess fees (2 times) would have made Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) one of the costliest public universities.
Don’t let your upper-middle-class privileges cloud you, JNU gives an opportunity to students from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, to study in JNU, with the lowest possible investment.
Those who raised questions against the government are branded as being “anti-national,” “Urban Naxals”, “Tukde Tukde Gang,” and what not! Students are penalised for free thought and dissent.
The objective? to villainise an entire university for being critical of the government; a university that is consistently ranked among the top 10 government-funded universities of India.
3. The Education Budget Has Been Regularly Decreased Over The last 6 years (Except In 2018).
It is being underspent! Even the amount allocated for the purpose of education is not being completely utilised!
The government wants to spend money on statues, giving tax cuts to corporates, but whine when they have to fund education. Then they call students freeloaders!
4. Unemployment
No jobs for us. According to a report by the NSSO, unemployment is at the highest level in the last 45 years.
To add to this, the government never talked about it, let alone acknowledged the crisis (they even hid data and statistical reports.) They care more about the Hindu nationalism ‘project’.
5. No Credible Opposition.
Our opposition parties are too fragmented, disillusioned, and clueless to counter the government. We see them more often on Twitter and social media and less on the roads, fighting for us.
We are obligated to be a voice of reason, question, and challenge the government. Remember the Jayaprakash Narayan-led student movement that toppled the mighty Indira Gandhi!