The Big Picture – Political Debates on Campuses: Is it Necessary?

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The Big Picture – Political Debates on Campuses: Is it Necessary?

Jawaharlal Nehru University organised an event on Parliament attack against “judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat” and in solidarity with the “struggle” of Kashmiri migrants at the Sabarmati dhaba in the campus.

Members of ABVP objected to the event and wrote to the V-C that such kind of protests should not be held on the campus, prompting the university administration to order cancellation of the march. Despite cancellation the organisers went on to conduct the event which prompted the members of ABVP to lodge a complaint. Delhi Police registered a case of sedition against “unknown persons” in connection with the event and arrested JNU Students Union President Kanhaiya Kumar.

Now the efforts are being made to politicise the issue and there is a debate going about , Should the students refrain in the political discourses inside the university

Students have been playing an important role in politics since pre independence times, Movements like Swadeshi, Non cooperation, Civil disobedience, and Quit India etc are perfect example of students participating in politics of the country. And given the legitimate right to vote at the age of 18 makes political debate on campuses a necessity, provided the discourse happens within the purview of constitution. Banning of political debates in the campuses is unviable and it is an insult to free speech.

JNU has been a place of strong democratic space. Everyday there are debates in the university that discusses variety of issues that matter. JNU has a strong institutional framework to deal with variety of such issues. However considering the present case the university should have been given time to conduct an enquiry and come up with the report, if there is a necessity for state intervention.  Such things never happened in this case.

Students are the reflection of political, social, cultural change in the country, Youths are always the one who give the movement its energy, idealism, After all politics is all about trying to understand the larger sense of the world in which they live and to able to intervene in it meaningfully to make a world better place.

Q.) Should the politics be allowed inside university? Comment