Accusing the Narendra Modi government of being fearful of the opinionated youth of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh has said the students would resist any attempt to dismantle public education.
She was addressing ‘We are One,’ a protest gathering organised by the Kerala University Union in solidarity with the students of various universities protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), at the Gandhi Park here on Wednesday.
“During election campaigns, they would woo the youth telling them that they are the strength of India. But when the youth question their wrong policies, they tell us that we are kids, who should not speak about these things. The youth are threatened and attacked for asking these questions. The youth have to understand that we have to be vocal about policies, especially those concerning the education sector,” she said.
Constitution’s vanguard
She said the youth who looked up to Bhagat Singh, Ambedkar and Savitribai Phule would not cow down before the foot soldiers of Golwarkar and Savarkar, who wrote apology letters for fighting the British.
“Bhagat Singh was a youth, like us protesting students, when he was hanged for raising questions and demanding independence. Now the government is acting similarly, slapping UAPA and sedition cases on youth. They are giving tags like ‘tukde tukde gang’ to these students. We are the vanguard of our Constitution and we are not going to move an inch back,” said Ms. Ghosh.
Fee hike issue
About the fee hike in the JNU, which fuelled a major student protest, she said education was not a commodity for sale, but wat is something which should be provided free by the government for all.
“When marginalised students think about the JNU, they do not think about the tuition fees. They think about how they can crack the entrance examination, which is not the case in private institutions or even IITs. Thousands of students from many universities came together because they understood that this government is exploiting students and trying to privatise our spaces. The onslaught now is against the education sector, evident from the poor allocations in the budget, which is why the recent Delhi High Court verdict that the government has to fund public education is important,” she said. Ms. Ghosh thanked the people and students of Kerala for being the first to express solidarity with the students of the JNU when they faced a murderous attack from ABVP, and for the sustained protests against the CAA and the NRC.
Plays, music performances and skits by students from various colleges were staged as part of the ‘We are One’ event.
Published - February 06, 2020 12:54 am IST
