NEW DELHI: Jahan is new to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and India. But, this is her home now. The ‘anti-national’ tirades on JNU students are a prime worry for this Turkmenistan girl at the moment.
Sitting at a dhaba in the campus after her classes, Jahan says, this is her solitude. This is also the time when the postgraduate student of History reflects on Indian politics. “There are jokes that go around in the department that JNU students will not get married as they are anti-national. Outsiders misunderstand us. This is a place where the people stand united to demand their rights.”
In 2016, former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on sedition charge, after allegations that he raised ‘anti-national’ slogans at a protest. That was the genesis of the ‘anti-national’ tirade. Kanhaiya is now contesting from Bihar’s Begusarai on a CPI ticket. Students feel, if elected, he should actively put forth the issues plaguing the varsity, including the muzzling of dissent, to the fore. “He (Kanhaiya) should take care of JNU’s concerns. After all, it is JNU that gave him a political face,” said Nayeem, a Masters student in Urdu from Bihar.
The institution is under attack because of the potential of movement- building here, said Parul, a research scholar of Visual Studies. Another research scholar Shatavisha asserts that the notion that JNU is an island or a Utopian world, which many people believe in, is not true.
Students say the Centre, instead of addressing the primary concerns ailing India, is trying to deflect the people’s attention and clamping down on dissent and free-thinking. “They do not speak about the real issues. There is an uncomfortable silence on issues that matter. In our campus, there is an attempt to do away with the dhabas that have been here for years and to bring corporate establishments. What earlier cost `5 will eventually cost `20, making many commodities unaffordable for students,” said N Sai Balaji, JNUSU president.
The students add that reducing the functioning times of dhabas, privatisation of campus, bringing technology courses without infrastructure, doing away with dhobis and bringing laundry services do not resonate with JNU’s character. Hence, for a significant number of students, the fight is against the BJP, its policies, politics and ‘subtle and not-so-subtle’ ways of ‘trying’ to change the varsity.
We now even need permission to protest. If this is not fascism, what is?” asks Arunkumar from Tamil Nadu.Vikas from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), however, claimed it was because of the Modi government that attacks on the Right wing groups are on the decline. “Earlier, the Left parties used to constantly attack us.” Bitupan, originally from Assam, will never vote for the BJP. But, he is not completely against the implementation of the National Register of Citizens. “I want equilibrium of views. I am not for the Right or the Left. I want development. There is little performance at present. But I also want my identity to be intact. I want to be a proud Assamese,” says the Sociology student.
For Jitendra, a student of Korean studies and a resident of Bihar’s Motihari, his ‘obvious’ choice is the AAP due to the ‘transformation of government schools.’ “In the end what matters is what I am provided. If I need a scholarship, will the Centre be able to provide it?”
The consensus among most students is they would vote against the BJP for ignoring matters of higher education, employment and health. “Politics can be tricky… I am for truce,” Jahan rounds it up.