KOCHI: Unlike in the past, campus politics is gaining notoriety or in the words of a stalwart ‘apolitical gangs’ are ruling the roost. Student outfits are no longer churning out statesmen. Express talks to socio-political leaders to understand what and why this has happened.
“Blame it on the deterioration of social standards and ethics. People, in general, have lost the capability of being selfless. In the past, people didn’t have any inhibitions when it came to helping others. An advocate would rush to solve cases for the entire village! However, the scenario has changed today,” says MK Sanu, retired professor and social activist.
According to him, in the past, campus politics used to be very much strong. “Unlike today, we had some very important issues to fight for. The fight was not individualised or cornered by a single organisation. It used to be a joint effort,” he said. Of course, there used to be differences in opinions, he says.
“But the differences were not settled through violence. Those in SFI, ABVP or KSU could sit together and discuss the issues over a cup of tea. But that doesn’t happen now,” he says.
“In the past, teachers used to play a major role in developing such an attitude among students. They had quality and this rubbed off on their students too.” Also, only those who were very good students and excelled in academics became leaders of students’ organisations, he says. However, such a thing doesn’t happen now.
“You can’t expect a statesman to come out from a campus where studies take a back seat.” Teachers need to stand against campus violence instead of standing aside nonchalantly. “Only, a behavioural shift will generate good leaders from campuses,” he says. They should also shake free from their base political parties. According to Rajan Gurukkal, vice-chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council, in the past student organisations were relatively independent of base parties. “Youngsters had their idealism and were ready to struggle genuinely. There used to be competition but they didn’t have a gang mentality.”
“On campuses, organisations that are functioning under the guise of student outfits are gangs. Their only agenda is to take control of the campus and become the law,” he says.
“How do you expect a good leader to come out of such organisations?” “Leaders don’t come from student outfits,” says MP Joseph, former advisor to the government (labour reforms and industrial relations). “Campuses are places where politics don’t have a place. If you want to play politics, you should set up a university for politics and play out all your agenda there,” he says.
“All these student organisations, be it the SFI or KSU, all have an ideology of their own. And it would be wrong to say campus politics has given birth to statesmen. Of course. Some of them might have been a part of these organisations, but all these leaders did have that inherent quality that made them stalwarts,” he says. According to him, these leaders would have been even greater statesmen if they hadn’t come from these student groups.