‘Question of Our Children’s Future’: Over 3,000 March in Solidarity With JNU Students

New Delhi: More than 3,000 people joined a citizen’s march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, in solidarity with JNU students who are protesting against the hostel fees hike, on Saturday morning.

Men and women from students’ organisations, trade unions, JNU alumni, the JNU Teachers’ Association and rights bodies like the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) marched along with JNU students carrying placards and raising slogans against the Modi government and its education policies. They also criticised the high handedness of the Delhi police in dealing with student protestors. 

JNU students have been protesting for four weeks against a significant hike in the hostel fee and other new charges that the students claim would create barriers for students from deprived backgrounds.

Many students were reportedly injured in a recent march to the HRD ministry after police allegedly resorted to lathicharge. FIRs have also been lodged against many students.

Also read: Social Justice in the Times of JNU Protests

The reasons for people from many different walks of life joining the march ranged from a concern for their own children’s education to the necessity to safeguard what many consider a model of inclusive education that JNU represents. “The BJP government is acting against the interests of not just JNU students but all students, youth, farmers and workers. We can respond effectively only when all of us come together. This is not just about the students; fee hikes will eventually impact parents and other members of the society,” Girija Pathak from the All India People’s Forum (AIPF) told The Wire.

Central trade unions like All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) were also present at the march, in a show of student-worker solidarity. JNU students have also been known to actively work with trade unions and join them in their struggles for workers’ rights.

“Our own children also go to schools and colleges. This government’s new education policy will limit access to education to the hands of the privileged few,” Anurag Saxena, Delhi state general secretary of CITU, told The Wire. Many participants in the march expressed concern about the adverse effect of the fee hikes on access to education for marginalised communities, especially women.

“No matter which caste or region they come from, women would be discouraged from pursing education if it is expensive. People from the Dalit and OBC communities would also suffer,” Saxena added.

Many current students narrated their own experiences and spoke about how a nominal fee helped them get quality education, which, in turn, has opened many professional doors for them. 

“For my Bachelor’s degree, I made it to many universities but getting through JNU was an achievement. Quality education and fees were the biggest deciding factor and I couldn’t have afforded to study at any other place. I have completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from JNU, and am currently in the second year of my PhD. I have come this far only because of accessible education, and would have had to look for a job after getting my undergraduate degree otherwise, “Pankaj Kumar, a research scholar in the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies of JNU, told The Wire.

He also said that many students like him, who are meritorious and waiting for an opportunity like this, would be deprived of the education he could receive if the fee was hiked. “I have joined this march so that students like me also get access to quality education without having to take out huge loans,” Kumar added.

Former students carried a banner that read “JNU alumni stand with JNU”. Pointing to CAG data which revealed that Rs 94,036 crore collected since FY ’07 as secondary and higher secondary education cess has been retained in the Consolidated Fund of India, contrary to procedure, they said the problem wasn’t lack of funds but a larger, sinister plan to alter the inclusive model of education in JNU. 

“The current administration is not open to dialogue; I have never seen this before in JNU. The VC just sends memos and orders, and is not available to talk. When we were there, we constantly had a dialogue with the administration. Sometimes they didn’t accept our demands but it was an open conversation based on mutual respect,” Abhilasha Kumari, who studied Sociology at JNU from 1974 to 1976, told The Wire.

Kumari, and many other alumni, alleged that the government’s agenda was just to punish and repress JNU because of its open and democratic culture. “The VC has money to erect statues in the campus but not for our children? Data shows that a massive amount of money meant for education remains unutilised,” Kumari added.

Ritambara Shastri, another alumnus who studied at the School of International Studies of the university from 1976 to 1981 claimed that the VC was “clearly anti-student”. She said that the current JNU VC was not interested in preserving the university and just wanted to crush its spirit.

“An open dialogue and conceding to the genuine demands of the students is the only way forward, there can be no resolution until the fee hike is reversed in entirety. How can you have an inclusive university when you make it inaccessible for deprived and marginalised students?” Shastri asked.

The march also saw participation from some political parties.

“JNU has been repeatedly attacked ever since the Modi government came to power. It’s a war like situation against JNU. This is clearly an attempt to move towards overall privatisation of education in the country. JNU has always resisted against all regressive moves of the government and that’s why there is an attempt to create a negative image of the university. They want to tame the students through brute force. We are here to tell these students that they are not alone,” Rajendra Pratholi, Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, told The Wire.