JNU protest not a Left vs BJP issue: Former JNUSU presidents

Former presidents of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU), including CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and politburo member Prakash Karat, on Monday joined the chorus of the institution's students and alumni demanding a rollback of the hostel fee hike. The former JNUSU heads released a joint statement here demanding a time-bound inquiry by a high court judge into the "unprovoked police violence against peaceful protest rally of JNU students".

The leaders will also join the students' call to form a human chain at Connaught Place in central Delhi on November 27. "The privatisation and commercialisation of education has led to the spread of a public perception that 'subsidies' are out of place and a so-called 'reasonable return on investment' must be ensured. Whereas earlier governments were forced to debate these issues publicly and face failed attempts to pass reform bills in Parliament with the decline of even these democratic practices under the present regime, the practice of resorting to executive orders to implement policies without public debate has become the new 'normal'," Yechury, who was elected as JNUSU president in 1977, said.

Padmashree awardee and former JNUSU president N R Mohanty said, "This is not a Left vs BJP issue. When we were students, we protested against the government when the Congress was in power. This is simply about raising your voice against what is wrong." At a press conference here, the leaders said the students of JNU always protested against issues in the country and raised concerns over the manner in which they were dealt with by the authorities.

"The claims that taxpayers' money is being wasted on the students is nonsense. This country is not run on income tax paid by 3 per cent of the population alone and today, all of us, including school and university students, are taxpayers," Prakash Karat, who was the third JNUSU president, said. "In fact, collections from indirect tax are almost as much as those from direct taxes. Further, many of the beneficiaries of higher education go on to contribute

directly and indirectly to tax revenues for a long time after," he said. N Sai Balaji, 2018 JNUSU president, claimed that the BJP government had crores of rupees to buy MLAs but universities are reporting crores in deficit. "Won't it be better if Amit Shah gives one MLA's price to the university," he asked.

D Raghunandan, Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Devi Prasad Tripathi are among the former JNUSU presidents to sign the joint statement. JNU students have been agitating for over four weeks about the hostel fee hike. The agitation over hiked hostel fee escalated on November 11 when thousands of students clashed with police, leaving HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' stranded for over six hours at the venue of the university's convocation.

The university's Executive Council had then announced a partial rollback for students belonging to the BPL category and not availing any scholarships but the move was dubbed an "eyewash" by the protesters. A week later, students staged a march from the university campus to the HRD Ministry but were stopped at multiple locations and finally outside the Safdarjung tomb.

The HRD Ministry had constituted a three-member panel to recommend ways to restore normal functioning at JNU and mediate between the administration and students. The panel is yet to submit its report.