Onwards to the 10th National Conference
The All India Students’ Association is going to organise its 10th National Conference on 9th, 10th and 11th August, 2023 in Kolkata, at a time when the Modi Government is selling the country to its capitalist friends– the Adanis and Ambanis – whose profits are fueling the hate campaign against Muslims and other marginalised communities in India. At this juncture, it is important to remember the India of our martyr’s dreams, and for which they sacrificed their lives. The students and youth of this country are drawing inspiration from the freedom struggle to defeat the heirs of the colonial British, i.e., BJP-RSS, who are looting, plundering and dividing India, and are now replicating the ‘divide and rule’ policy.
The student-youth unity in the country has stood as the backbone of resistance to protect democracy and to save the Indian Constitution from the fascist assault of the Sangh Parivar. We must re-assert, strengthen and move forward, building on our past movements to reclaim our democracy and save our constitution through a strong student-youth movement.
In the last three decades, AISA fought and won several significant struggles for inclusive education system and `dignified employment opportunities. When OBC reservation in academic institutions became a law in 2008 and there were nefarious attempts to scuttle the same, AISA ensured that the same was properly implemented through a three-year long political and legal struggle. AISA played a pivotal role after Delhi gang rape protests. Just after assuming power in 2014, the Modi Govt launched repeated assaults on higher education and declared war against universities – and we stood steadfast in resistance across campuses. AISA spearheaded the ‘Occupy UGC’ movement in 2015 when Modi Govt decided to scrap the Non-NET Fellowship and planned for massive budget cuts in higher education. When the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula occurred in HCU, we launched a campaign ‘Arise My Country: March Forward for an India of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar’s Dreams’ to resist caste discrimination in campuses and to demand for a Rohith Act. In November 2017, AISA held Student – Youth Yatra from Chandigarh to Calcutta with the slogan – “Education-Jobs, not Hate-Mobs”. We demanded the formation of autonomous gender cells across various campuses when there were attempts to dismantle GSCASH in JNU and other universities. We united different movements across states fighting for employment in Railways, Banking and SSC under the banner ‘Rozgar Mange India’.
In the last few years, AISA along with students, have been on the roads fighting for the rights of students and against the anti-student policies of Modi Govt. The memory of students demanding ‘#FeesMustFall’ in JNU and resisting & fighting back the government. Despite the all-out attack, students stood strong and exposed the nefarious design of the Modi Govt in selling higher education and fought to protect the public-funded nature of universities.
It was the students and youth of this country who stood tall and fought back the divisive CAA-NRC-NPR policy by forging unity with women, Muslims, the working class and the civil society in the country. AISA activists supported the ongoing struggles against CAA-NRC in various states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and others resulting which our activists are still facing fake charges of those times imposed on them by the Modi government and its police.
During the unplanned lockdown imposed on the entire country, to curb the spread of COVID -19 pandemic, it was AISA’s student activists who ran helplines to assist working class people to find beds, oxygen cylinders, vital medicines, vaccines, distributed food packets and ran ambulances in cities like Delhi, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata, assisting migrant workers in providing ration and transportation, and assisted students in safely returning to their homes.
When an extension of lockdown continued to be imposed in university campuses, which remained shut to students even after the lockdown was lifted otherwise, AISA began a “Re-open campus” campaign, after which universities were forced to open the campuses for students. Making the best use of the crisis in the country, the BJP Government introduced the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP 2020) just through a press conference.
AISA took up a campaign against such an onslaught and to expose the pro-corporate nature of NEP across the country. AISA has continuously led struggles against the implementation of the NEP, including the CUET, FYUP, and demanded that the same be withdrawn by the government, as it is by nature exclusionary and anti-students. To this effect, a ‘Students’ Parliament’ was organised in Delhi last year, where students from universities across the country demanded a complete rollback of NEP.
During the large-scale protests by the farmers who gheraoed Delhi, which forced the Modi government to withdraw the three anti-farmer laws, AISA activists ran libraries at both Tikri and Singhu borders and mobilized students to stand in solidarity with the farmers across the country. When the rate of unemployment in the country is soaring, AISA activists in Uttar Pradesh took up the fight for dignified employment during the UP elections with the slogan – ‘UP Maange Rozgaar’ – demanding jobs for youth, whereas a similar country-wide campaign was organised in 2019 under the banner of ‘Young India’.
AISA gave the call for ‘Bihar Bandh’ during the irregularities in RRB-NTPC exam and our activists stood firm in different protests against the Agniveer policy across the country. AISA launched the ‘Love Azad’ campaign countering the myth of love jihad being propagated by the RSS and institutionalized by the government. AISA activists across the country protested the scrapping of Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) and opposed the BJP government in Karnataka scrapping the Muslim OBC reservation and brought them under EWS. When only myths are being taught instead of history in schools using NCERT books, AISA struggles relentlessly against all such attempts to saffornise history.
When the Ministry of Education drastically reduced the OBC reservation in state-quota of NEET, AISA organised a protest against the same, and sought for the implementation of 27% OBC quota in all-India quota for NEET.
Young India in Modi’s ‘Amrit Kaal’- Neither Education nor Employment!
Era of Unemployment: Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 after assuring to generate 2 crore jobs every year, but soon enough, Amit Shah famously divulged that it was a jumla, and Modiji himself claimed that selling pakoda is also employment.
9 years later:
- Only about 36% of the working-age population is actually employed in India.
- The Agnipath job scheme, (offering a 4-year contractual job in the military) went down in history as the only job scheme announcement greeted with massive protests by its ‘beneficiaries’: the youth poured onto the streets calling it a ‘retirement scheme’ and an ‘appointment scam’!
- Modi rule has seen steady cuts in govt and organized sector jobs – UPSC – Civil Services Exams: 50% cut! from 1364 (in 2014) to 712 (in 2021).
- Between 2018 and 2022, about 25,000 young people have died by suicide. Of which 9,140 people’s death by suicide was directly due to unemployment, and other 16,091 was due to bankruptcy and indebtedness.
- Along with such massive job cuts, struggling youth are being subjected to unending manipulations to delay and deny announced jobs, through repeated question paper leaks, infinitely delayed exams, irregularities in results and final appointment letters!
Corporatisation, Centralization, Communalization of education!
9 years of Modi rule has seen relentless attacks on higher education: targeting and defaming of some of our best universities, fund cuts, fee hikes, scholarship cuts, seat cuts, reservation cuts and policies of saffronization and privatization.
- In the name of so-called “autonomy”, NEP aims to dismantle public funding of higher education. Instead of UGC grants, institutions are being forced to rely on loans from HEFA and self-generation of resources. Where is the money going to come from? Of course, from the pockets of students: one can already see the spate of fee hike across universities!
- While the government washes its hands-off funding, it tightens its centralized control over curriculum, appointments, admissions and administration to push its political agenda of “saffronisation”. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has deleted contents related to caste, religious discrimination, text dealing with Mughal history and so on.
- NEP’s proposed admission procedure through a centralized CUET for UG/PG courses is burdensome and exclusionary for the vast majority of students. After plus 2, students have to face yet another elaborate centralized exam. Earlier coaching mafia were dominating medical-engineering admissions. Now it will extend its net over regular college education too.
- NEP 2020 is against inclusive education. It doesn’t mention the word ‘reservation’ even once. Steady dismantling of public sector and govt jobs on one hand and elaborate privatization in education will effectively destroy provisions of reservation and social justice in employment and education, taking away even the hope of social mobility for the deprived sections.
We have a vision for education, society and country and we have continuously strived for that: inclusive and quality education; and a just and equal society.
On one hand, AISA has stood with the people in all the struggles and challenges thrown at us by the government and its cronies, and on the other hand, defended the right to education and dignified employment of students and youth in this country. Onwards the 10th National Conference, AISA will intensify the struggles to resist, defeat and expose the pro-corporate and pro-communal agenda of the government, and to uphold Indian democracy and the Constitution from the assault of the Sangh Parivar.
We once again appeal you to support AISA’s upcoming National Conference to be held on 9th, 10th and 11th August in Kolkata!
Rollback Anti-Student NEP 2020, FYUP, CUET!
Ensure Dignified Employment for All!
Ensure Quality Education for All!
Uproot caste discrimination, patriarchy and politics of communal hate!
Ensure GSCASH in all universities!
Release all political prisoners, stop hate crimes against Muslims!
EDUCATION-JOBS, NOT HATE MOBS!
REJECT CORPORATISATION, CENTRALISATION AND COMMUNALISATION OF EDUCATION!
BUILD INDIA AS OF BHAGAT SINGH & AMBEDKAR’S DREAM!
