New Delhi: In a unified effort, 16 student organisations, operating under the banner of “United Students of India”, joined forces to stage a march advocating for student rights at Jantar Mantar. The primary objectives of this collective mobilisation were to scrutinise and challenge education policies, such as the National Education Policy and Common University Entrance Test. Thousands of students from across the nation gathered in Delhi to participate in the march.
VP Sanu, All India President of Students’ Federation of India, welcomed the gathering with a note highlighting the allegedly “communal” nature of the government. Mayukh Biswas, General Secretary of Students’ Federation of India, delivered a speech critiquing the current government’s actions.
Nitin Raj, a student activist from JNU present at the march, spoke to Millennium Post, “It is essential for this government to explicitly acknowledge that we are not a nation of monolithic needs; we cannot be homogenised. All these students and the ongoing protests signify a rejection of policies that fail to recognize the secular fabric of the nation and the needs of the marginalized. What we, the students of India, aspire to change is this very narrative.”
Student body leaders including Dinesh Sreerangaraj (AISF General Secretary), Prasenjeet Kumar (AISA General Secretary), and Dipsita Dhar (All India Joint Secretary of SFI), addressed the rally, each contributing to the discourse on alternative education policies, united action, and the safeguarding of student rights. Towards the conclusion, Dipsita Dhar read out the demand charter, listing crucial demands.
These included the rejection of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, NEET, and CUET; the enactment of the Bhagat Singh National Employment Guarantee Act to ensure education and employment for all; resistance against fee hikes and a commitment to free, quality education from kindergarten to post-graduation; opposition to the communalisation, commercialisation, and centralisation of education, emphasising the need to uphold democratic, secular, progressive, and scientific principles in education.
The charter also advocated for the protection and creation of rights and opportunities for marginalised groups, the enactment of the Rohith Act to address discrimination based on caste and economic status, the establishment of GSCASH on every campus to combat sexual harassment and gender discrimination, the conduction of Students’ Union Elections on all campuses to ensure the democratic rights of the academic community, and the rollback of the Agnipath scheme.