Students and Politics

Abhimanyu: a futile death
Pic courtesy Indian Express

The murder of 20 year-old Abhimanyu due to campus politics in Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, Kerala should make the student community as well as politicians think seriously about the relevance of campus politics. It is quite absurd to expect politicians to think of it, I know. Everything from gods to grass is grist to the political mill. Politicians in Kerala, irrespective of parties, have always made use of students to reap various political dividends.

   I remember my college days in Ernakulam. I was a student of St Albert’s college which is situated a little over a kilometre from Maharaja’s. During the five years I studied there, I witnessed a helluva lot of political activity on the campus. That was in the late 70s and early 80s. Kerala Student’s Union (KSU) of the Congress and Students Federation of India (SFI) of the CPI(M) vied with each other to boycott classes and shout inane slogans for causes that most students were either unaware of or indifferent about.

   Once the KSU organised a strike to protest against the delay in the publication of an examination result. The leader walked in front shouting slogans which were loyally repeated by his followers who dogged him throwing their angry fists into the air. I happened to be around when the Principal confronted them on the veranda.

   “Are you serious about getting your results promptly?” the Principal asked the leader.

   “Of course,” the leader said vehemently.

   “Come to my office and collect it. You’ve failed in every single subject.”

   The leader blushed in spite of being a budding politician. It was the only time I saw a politician blushing. Not that I have any connection with politicians. But I have watched them on television debates and other such programmes. I have wondered a thousand times how they could tell utter lies without batting an eyelid. Eventually I learnt that the most thick-skinned animal on the planet is the politician.

   The Principal went away after conveying what he wanted to. The leader waited for a moment until the Principal turned round the corner of the veranda.  And then he shouted another slogan about some injustice in the evaluation process. Yes, that’s another quality of politicians: they can divert the issue innovatively on the spot.

   Like most serious students, I was sick of those strikes. I wished those leaders kept their politics outside the campus. I wished they would let those students study who were genuinely interested in studies.

   Today, politics on campus has become more irrelevant than ever. There is no political party in the country which is sustained by genuine ideological moorings. Every party has sold out on ideals and principles. It’s not worth spending one’s youth for any of these political parties. These young students in colleges should focus on their studies and career. The only way they can make meaningful changes in the society is by securing their own future and then working for the secure future of their fellow citizens. Sloganeering for criminal politicians is just a personal sell-out unless that can make them get a ticket at least in the Panchayat elections.

   Abhimanyu who was killed the other day by youngsters belonging to the student’s wing of a communal party achieved nothing by his death. On the contrary, he killed his parent’s dreams. While his two brothers had to stop studies and take up work in order to earn their daily bread, Abhimanyu was sent to pursue higher studies, the first member of his family to do so. His parents had big dreams about him. He killed those dreams. He achieved nothing. Absolutely nothing. A futile death at the age of 20.

   That’s the tragedy of Abhimanyu. That’s the tragedy of campus politics: it achieves nothing.