Left politics undone in JNU by SFI saga
12 July 2012 2:11 AM GMT
The university which has been the hotbed of Left politics in the country and from where the leaders like Brinda Karat, Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat have emerged is now engulfed into a crisis. After the Communist Party of India (Marxist) decided to scrap the Jawaharlal Nehru (JNU) wing of its student union Students' Federation of India (SFI) on Tuesday, there has been an all-round condemnation of the decision from present and former members of the SFI.
A former SFI leader, who did not wished to be named, said that the party could have handled the matter in a more democratic manner, rather than passing an authoritative judgement. 'I am pained by the events that have unfolded in JNU. The party could have tackled the situation the way political parties do,' he said. The SFI, while justifying its decision to dissolve the JNU unit, said that the student wing did not comment on a particular decision.
The SFI at JNU had opposed the stand taken by the CPI(M) to support Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the presidential election.
'They created an issue out of a non-issue and also there were other problems in the functioning the of the JNU unit,' says the SFI general secretary Ritabrata Banerjee. He added that the JNU unit was behaving in an undemocratic manner, and the vote share of the SFI was witnessing a gradual down slide in the university.
Though Banerjee calls the functioning of JNU unit undemocratic, he rejected a similar charge made against the SFI. 'The state committee [of the SFI] passed the resolution in majority, so it is unfair to say that we are behaving in an autocratic manner,' Banerjee said.
The members of the dissolved unit, however, allege that no discussions were held with them in this regard. 'They should have given us an explanation as to why they wanted to dissolve the unit. They did not talk to us. How can they take this decision?' asks Anagha Ingole, a former president of the SFI at JNU. Ingole says that if there has been a problem with the functioning of the SFI at JNU, then why was a decision not taken before this unit took a stand on the presidential election and opposed the CPI(M)'s stand of supporting Mukherjee. The former president added, 'They can't expect us to be a party mouthpiece and be quiet about the political events.'
The SFI unit of JNU will now be reconstituted in a few days.
A former SFI leader, who did not wished to be named, said that the party could have handled the matter in a more democratic manner, rather than passing an authoritative judgement. 'I am pained by the events that have unfolded in JNU. The party could have tackled the situation the way political parties do,' he said. The SFI, while justifying its decision to dissolve the JNU unit, said that the student wing did not comment on a particular decision.
The SFI at JNU had opposed the stand taken by the CPI(M) to support Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the presidential election.
'They created an issue out of a non-issue and also there were other problems in the functioning the of the JNU unit,' says the SFI general secretary Ritabrata Banerjee. He added that the JNU unit was behaving in an undemocratic manner, and the vote share of the SFI was witnessing a gradual down slide in the university.
Though Banerjee calls the functioning of JNU unit undemocratic, he rejected a similar charge made against the SFI. 'The state committee [of the SFI] passed the resolution in majority, so it is unfair to say that we are behaving in an autocratic manner,' Banerjee said.
The members of the dissolved unit, however, allege that no discussions were held with them in this regard. 'They should have given us an explanation as to why they wanted to dissolve the unit. They did not talk to us. How can they take this decision?' asks Anagha Ingole, a former president of the SFI at JNU. Ingole says that if there has been a problem with the functioning of the SFI at JNU, then why was a decision not taken before this unit took a stand on the presidential election and opposed the CPI(M)'s stand of supporting Mukherjee. The former president added, 'They can't expect us to be a party mouthpiece and be quiet about the political events.'
The SFI unit of JNU will now be reconstituted in a few days.
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