SFI pamphlet dated 1st Oct, '07

1st October ’07

Reject the casteist & anti-student politics of Youth for (In) Equality

Friends,

JNU as a university has always stood for social justice, equality and quality in education and the
society at large. The student community of our campus, under the leadership of the JNUSU, has
ensured that in our university students from various regional and social backgrounds come to study. As a result, JNU is one of the few universities in our country which fulfills 22.5% reservation for SC/ST students. JNU is also the first university in the country to have an Equal Opportunity Office to redress incidents of casteist abuse on campus. This long cherished vision of JNU, which makes it a unique university, has been upheld and guarded by the sacrifices of generations of students over the last 35 years. The Youth For (In) Equality is an organization in campus which is completely antithetical to this socially sensitive vision of JNU.

Stop a running commentary of the court proceedings on a matter which is sub judice!:

The YFE as an organization was born with a single point of agenda of opposing OBC reservation in our campus. They have been off late coming out with a series of releases on campus against the OBC reservation based on the proceedings in the Supreme Court. It is alarming that an issue which is subjudice is being discussed and commented upon at will by this organization. The YFE should have the patience to wait for the final judgement before jumping the gun. If they are so interested in doing a running commentary of the proceedings in the court they better choose some other profession which suits their talent. But there are some more important and pertinent questions that we would like to ask from the YFE.

Why did the YFE not function in the JNUSU despite being elected?:

The students of JNU in the last JNUSU elections rejected this casteist agenda of YFE, electing pro-reservation candidates in all the central panel posts. It seems that the YFE has not learnt any political lesson from this mandate and are continuing with their casteist politics.

It is because of their narrow parochial and casteist politics that the YFE has not raised a single students’ issue over the last one year. Violating all norms of democratic functioning and accountability, the Councillors elected from YFE boycotted every Council Meeting in the tenure of this JNUSU Council closing any possibility of having formal Council Meetings. This has resulted in a situation where the Convenorships in the Science Schools remain undecided and the JNUSU has not been able to elect the representatives to GSCASH and other important committees in the University. We firmly believe that the absence of convenors in the schools where they were elected was a ploy of the YFE not to be held accountable for their non-performance in the JNUSU in the last one year. Even apart from betraying the mandate of the science schools, the YFE is singularly responsible for paralyzing the entire JNUSU Council this year. The student community is witness to the fact that every year, representatives from contending ideological platforms get elected to the JNUSU Council and it is through intense debates and deliberations within the council that a collective position of the JNUSU is arrived at least on basic students’ issues. But a complete boycott of the council which is the collective body of the entire student community of JNU shows their utter non-seriousness and disregard towards genuine students’ issues. Their scant regard for a unique and truly democratic body like the JNUSU was also exemplified by the fact when they decided not to oppose the undemocratic Lyngdoh Committee recommendations in JNU. This they did when all the students’ organizations on campus except the YFE had taken an unequivocal stand to uphold the unique nature of the election process of our university. Even the Lyngdoh committee recommendations upheld the JNU election process as a role model for other universities but the YFE still did not see any reason in this collective response of the students of JNU. We appeal to the students, to reject this undemocratic and diabolic game plan of the YFE to destroy the institution of JNUSU.

YFE: the barsati mendhaks of JNU:

After their completely negative role on every important student issue over the last one year, the YFE has again cropped up suddenly like the barsati mendhaks (seasonal frogs) just before the JNUSU elections. Using their ‘merit’, they had also brought out an absurd pamphlet questioning the SFI and Left about our position on the issue of OBC reservation. The entire campus is witness to the spirited resistance that the SFI-AISF led JNUSU had put up against the casteist politics of YFE, championing the cause of OBC reservation, not only in JNU but even
outside the campus. We believe that there is a need to arrive at a judicious balance between quantity, quality and equity in the Indian education system. In this particular instance, the provision of reservations for OBCs was to be accompanied by an expansion in the facilities to ensure that the quantum of non-reserved seats will not be reduced. The government had worked out the modalities and many premier institutions like the IIM Ahmedabad had publicly announced their preparedness to implement OBC reservations having expanded the quantum of student intake. Even in our campus the Academic Council has ratified the implementation of 27% OBC reservation and 54% seat increase, inspite of the opposition of the YFE. A committee was formed to look into the modalities of increasing 54% seats with the requisite infrastructural facilities. All this process however stopped because of the Supreme Court’s stay order on the issue of OBC reservation, which was most unfortunate. While the matter is subjudice before the highest court in our country, we are committed to ensure 27% OBC reservation and 54% seat increase in JNU once the Supreme Court endorses the law passed in the Parliament.

The YFE again using their brand of convoluted arguments have suddenly arrived at the conclusion that the SFI is raising the issue of Indo-US Nuclear Deal to bypass the issue of reservations. We would like to tell them that they are living in a fool’s paradise. The Indo-US Nuclear Deal is an issue which concerns the independence and sovereignty of our country. The JNUSU signature campaign against the Indo-US Nuclear Deal has received an unprecedented response from the student community where 1720 students have signed, proving that the students of this campus are totally opposed to the UPA’s policy of making India into a subordinate ally of the USA. We challenge the YFE to take a position on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal instead of blabbering the arguments provided by their corporate bosses against the left. It is, however, anybody’s guess that the elitist YFE funded by corporate houses in the country will be in support of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.

The YFE has suddenly realized, just before the elections, that the issue of scholarships is important for the students. Last year when the JNUSU was on an Indefinite Hunger Strike demanding enhanced MCM for all poor students, the YFE simply did not participate in the agitation. On the issue of UGC scholarships for research scholars in our campus, an All Organization Meeting was convened by the JNUSU President, to chalk out a future course of action to ensure that the cut off date for the scholarships is extended to 2005. The YFE did not participate in that meeting. The JNUSU in accordance with the decision in the All Organization Meeting had given a call for a Protest Demonstration demanding that the cut off date for the UGC scholarships be extended to 2005 and the enhanced MCM of Rs 1500/month be provided forthwith. Instead of joining the JNUSU’s demonstration, the YFE had given a call for another demonstration on its own. This shows that the YFE is not bothered about forging student unity on genuine students’ issues. Rather the YFE’s concern for students’ issues is an election gimmick to be put up just before the JNUSU elections. We warn the YFE against taking the consciousness of the student community for granted. We appeal to the students to reject the casteist, antistudent politics of the Youth For (In) Equality.

Sd/- Rajiv Kumar Ranjan, Secretary, SFI-JNU.
Sd/- Roshan Kishore, President, SFI-JNU.