JNU SFI Unit's Statement Against All India SFI Leadership's Decision to Dissolve SFI-JNU Unit and Expel 4 Delhi State Committee Members from JNU

STUDENTS’ FEDERATION OF INDIA

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY UNIT

Unite against Authoritarianism and Stifling of Democracy

10.07.2012

A meeting of the SFI Delhi State Committee was convened today to discuss SFI-JNU’s position against CPI (M)’s support to Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential elections. The meeting was attended by the SFI All India General Secretary Ritabrata Banerjee, All India President P K Biju and All-India Joint Secretary V Sivadasan.

The 4 Delhi State Committee members from JNU explained the rationale behind the political position adopted by the SFI-JNU Unit. Unfortunately, there was no effort on the part of the All-India leadership to provide any political explanations or arguments. Instead a tirade was launched against the SFI-JNU Unit. The state committee members from Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia, who tried to intervene and argue for a political resolution of the matter, were coerced into submission.

The State Committee meeting has passed a resolution by a margin of 8 votes to 4, expelling the 4 state committee members from JNU: Roshan Kishore (President, Delhi SFI), P K Anand and Zico Dasgupta (Vice Presidents, Delhi SFI) and V Lenin Kumar (State Committee member); and dissolving the SFI-JNU Unit. It is to be noted that 3 Delhi State Committee members of the SFI, including the Secretary of the Delhi State Committee, are out of station and were not present in the meeting.

The SFI Constitutional provision invoked during the meeting relates to the purview of a primary unit in taking decisions on international and national issues. The SFI-JNU Unit has always adopted positions on international and national issues over the past 40 years of its existence. SFI’s Constitutional provision has never come in the way nor been invoked by anybody concerned. Moreover, the SFI CEC has not taken any position so far on CPI (M)’s support to Pranab Mukherjee or the other issues raised by the SFI-JNU. Therefore there is no question of violating any all-India political line.   

The decision to dissolve the SFI-JNU Unit is nothing but a mockery of the democratic processes of organization functioning, as laid down in the SFI Constitution and a grave assault on the independent and progressive character of a student organization like the SFI. The SFI-JNU Unit has not indulged in any anti-SFI activity. The political position against CPI (M) support to Pranab Mukherjee was adopted in a transparent and democratic manner, after convening EC meeting and a GBM, which is the highest decision making body of the unit. Neither did the All-India leadership of the SFI take any public position on the issue nor did it make any attempt to engage with the SFI-JNU Unit in a democratic manner.

The decision to expel 4 SFI Delhi State Committee members from JNU because the SFI-JNU Unit has taken a collective decision on a political issue, smacks of an authoritarian, undemocratic and vindictive attitude. The All-India leadership seems to be under the misconception that by targeting a few individuals they will be able to browbeat the entire unit and divert attention from the relevant political issues. They are taking the collective political consciousness and organizational unity in the SFI-JNU Unit for granted.

The SFI-JNU stands by the principled political positions it has adopted in the GBM and articulated through subsequent pamphlets. SFI-JNU Unit will carry forward the legacy of Study and Struggle and continue to function in the name of SFI-JNU and retain its adherence to the SFI Programme and Constitution. It is the All-India leadership of the SFI who have acted against the SFI Programme and Constitution. We appeal to SFI Units across the country, SFI State committees and SFI CEC members to register their protest against such violations and reverse the undemocratic decisions.

SFI-JNU appeals to the students of JNU to join a protest march at 9:30 pm tonight from Ganga Dhaba against this authoritarian and high handed decision of the SFI All-India leadership. We also appeal to all progressive-democratic sections of the student community to unite against authoritarian attempts to throttle political debates which would corrode the legacy of progressive student movement in our country.     

Sd/-

Arjun (Secretary SFI-JNU), Anagha (President SFI-JNU), Lenin; Divya (Vice President SFI-JNU), Anshul; Rahul; Altamash (Joint Secretary SFI-JNU)