By D V Kumar
An interesting debate has begun in the Shillong Times to which Benjamin Lyngdoh ( NEHU and its Students’ Union, 18th October) and Mantre Passah (NEHU and its Students’ Union- An Alternative Perspective, 19th October) have made their own valuable contributions. This debate has to do with a critical interrogation of the role of the North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) in the University. In this context, I wish to focus on four points (not necessarily in the same order in which they have raised). First, the much denigrated issue of student politics. It has been said time and again that students should not involve themselves in politics and their concern should be just to come to the University, get their degrees and disappear. There appears to be a complete misunderstanding about what politics should actually mean. Politics does not necessarily refer only to electoral politics. It should be understood from a much larger perspective. It is about looking at possibilities and empowering oneself. It is about critically examining issues and taking a position on them. When one goes to JNU, one finds a slogan written on the walls there. It says, ‘if politics decides your future, decide what your politics should be’. Politics decides everything about us. It decides from simple things like what we should be watching, eating, wearing to more serious things like how the minorities, dalits and women are treated in the country, what kind of education is imparted and so on. If politics is such an all-pervading narrative, why should students who are some of the most educated people with critical and creative minds of their own be discouraged from expressing their position on important issues concerning the society. I would, in fact, go further and argue, on the basis of my experience of working at NEHU, that it is depoliticisation and deradicalisation of the students of NEHU that is a matter of serious concern. One hardly finds them engaging in heated debates about issues that concern all of us. Whether it is a matter of unbridled liberalisation and its implications for the weakening of working class consciousness, or the threats posed by the right-wing forces in the country which are trying to impose a hegemonic and one-dimensional understanding of nationalism, or attempts to throttle the liberal voices and delegitimize secular and democratic forces, students in NEHU seem hardly bothered about. They would be able to reflect on these issue only when their consciousness is politicised.
Secondly, the very legitimacy of having a students’ union at NEHU has been sought to be questioned for the alleged indulgence in frequent ‘disruptions’. Any students’ union, it needs to be recognised, definitionally takes a stance on issues which may not always be palatable to the administration. Dissent should not be misconstrued as disruption. We need to create that dialogical space where all the stakeholders of the university-teachers, students and administration- try and resolve issues that agitate them. It needs to be understood that like any students’ union, NEHUSU is no exception, is a duly elected body of the students of a university. It represents the collective spirit and aspirations of students. It is a platform through which students articulate their grievances and concerns and draw the attention of the authorities. It therefore enjoys considerable legitimacy among students. It would be doing great disservice if one were to question the very legitimacy of a students’ union on the grounds that it is taking recourse to disruptions. In fact if any students’ union indulges in disruptive activities, it should be largely viewed as a failure of the administration as it has failed to empathise with students and resolve their issues. We have seen what happened on the University campuses in the last one year or so, the latest being the Banaras Hindus University where an utterly incompetent Vice-Chancellor made a mockery of himself by not paying attention to the legitimate concerns of the female students of the University.
Thirdly, the involvement of the NEHUSU in the admission process of the University has been critiqued. As I mentioned above, any students’ union, again NEHUSU is no exception, commands certain amount of legitimacy among the students. If such a body is involved in an important activity such as the admission process it is only going to enhance transparency and make the whole process more credible. I wish to refer to the practice which was followed at the Jawarharlal Nehru University. There used to be Student Faculty Committees (SFC) which consisted of a few elected student members of the department (or centres as they are called at JNU). They were given the responsibility of scrutinising applications for admission to the concerned department and passing them on to the teachers of the department who would then conduct interviews etc. The system worked very successfully. Later on it was shelved as the process of admission had been centralised with the opening of a number of centres both within and outside country for the conduct of the admission test. At NEHU the practice of involving the students’ union has been working very well and it is pointless to question the legitimacy of the system.
Lastly, the point being made about NEHUSU being not sufficiently representative is well-taken. NEHU being a premier University in the north-eastern region attracts students from all the states in the region and it is only logical that sufficient representation needs to be consciously made for all the stake-holders of the region. Deepening of the democratic process is critically dependent upon the wider participation of people, students in the context of NEHUSU.
(The writer teaches Sociology in NEHU)
Effective students’ unions and teachers’ associations are an essential component of any dynamic and vibrant University. They represent the collective spirit and should always try to live up to the expectations of their members. Any University administration should learn to live with them and engage with them in a creative and dialogical manner.
(The writer teaches at NEHU. Views expressed in the article are personal. He is the Vice-President of the North-Eastern Hill University Teachers’ Association)