NEW DELHI: Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik on Friday said campuses are considered a “nursery of thoughts”. “Campuses are where thought flourishes and if the property of fascism or neo-fascism is destruction of thought, then a destruction of the campus life is something which is absolutely essential for its survival; which is why JNU is the target…,” he said.
He was delivering the first Sitaram Yechury Memorial Lecture at JNU. In a tribute to the former CPM general secretary, the event was organised by the central executive committee of the SFI. Yechury, who passed away in September, served as the all-India president of the organisation. He was also elected JNU Student Union president thrice. Patnaik, who also taught Yechury, urged students to continue to fight for their democratic rights.
“When we fight for the campus democratic rights, we should also know that this fight is linked to a bigger fight... when you fight for student rights, you fight also for student rights to think and student rights to think goes against the grain of neo-fascism. So simply fighting for student rights itself becomes a way of fighting against the system. Do not give up your fight. It has a deep significance. It is not just a local fight, it’s a fight against the whole system,” he added.
SFI vice-president Nitheesh Narayanan spoke about the contribution of JNU in shaping up Yechury’s persona. “He was the speaker who did not need any organised effort to bring people to the public meetings. Whenever Sitaram attended our public meetings, we had that privilege to see how a person can bring or increase our confidence to be in our struggles, to be with the organised left and to fight for a better world, definitely we will continue cherishing his legacy,” said Narayanan.