2/11/2016

IndiasLastLeftCitadel|Swarajya

Indias Last Left Citadel

You can still hear the shout of Lal salaam! on the Jawaharlal Nehru University
campus. An alumnus tries to figure out an institution where Communism still thrives.
New Delhis Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has always been an enigma. When the
entire country seems to have junked Left ideology for good, the JNU campus still
reverberates with the shout of Lal Salaam (Red Salute). While one would fear using
the word comrade in routine outdoor existence due to its regressive undertone, the
word rings a familiar note that sounds quite progressive inside the campus. This has
been so since JNU was founded in 1969.
While the official line is that the university was established as an institution of learning
and research that would achieve better integration with the countrys policies, both
national and international, the real purpose was to give the leftists some sort of sops.
By the time Indira Gandhis policies began facing opposition from Communists, the
leftists controlled the campus. So much so that JNU students protested the then Prime
Ministers visit to the campus in 1980 and forced her to leave.
While West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura became the three islands showcasing
Communist ideology and its politics, JNU became the ideological hub to provide
sophisticated justification to things that went horribly wrong in these states. Also, the
ambience created a feeling about the Left being progressive, since the torch-bearers
happen to be representatives of the educated middle class elite who were articulate,
well-fed and looking for some philanthropic activities to justify their existence.
On the campus, the Left, till some time ago, was represented by the Student Federation
of India (SFI), affiliated to the CPI(M), which provided the ideological umbrella and
invariably aligned with half-brother All India Students Federation (AISF) of the CPI.
These two student bodies occupied most of the posts at the Students Union till the
emergence of a more radical ideology in the form of the All India Students Association
(AISA), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist, Leninist
(Liberation)). This ultra-left ideology that supported Maoist terrorism became a more
powerful voice on the campus.
JNU has always acted as a recruitment ground for radical ideologies. Gullible young
men and women who do not know the ABC of politics would be exposed to the
seductive polemic of revolution and change. The recruitment process starts with
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these student unions placing their tables in the campus to help students in the
admission process. It used to be quite a sight to see urban westernised young women
helping the newcomers from small towns understand the process and the campus.
That used to be the beginning.
A person like me who came from Bihar was quite enamoured with these people who
seemed really keen to help. I was not aware that I was being initiated. After that would
follow their numerous calls to attend their internal meetings. Before you realised what
was happening, you had already become a part of one camp! says senior journalist
Ajit Verma, who completed his MPhil from JNU in 1990.
These liberated people were the ones who would smoke, talk of ideology and provide a
helping hand whenever needed. The initiation would be complete after one started
participating in the discussion groups and late night chat sessions in various hostels.
You would take a side, and you would be labelled leftist or rightist depending on your
peer groups. At times one would also participate in the poster campaign that is intense
at the time of admission. From that stage onwards to the stage of understanding leftist
ideology, sympathy for the poor, looking at the rich as villains, etc, are gradual and
natural progressions. Before one knew, one had already become a part of the Left.
Those who came for five-year language courses were the most vulnerable since they
were young, impressionable and more trusting. The problems were the students in the
School of International Studies (SIS) as people joined here for Masters and left after
PhD. The liberal but not leftist Free Thinkers used to dominate the SIS till quite
recently.
What would intrigue many is the fact that students of Urdu, Persian and West African
Studies were invariably attracted towards the Left. They were mostly Muslims, deeply
religious and opposed to Marxism in their core belief.
But they ended up supporting the Left. The main reason was that the Left provided an
outlet to their political energy and they were invariably opposed to the RSS and its
student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
They used the Left strategically as a bulwark against the RSS-ABVP, says Sanjay Sinha,
senior corporate executive. The support was not ideological, at least in the 1990s, he
adds.
The ideological brains came from the School of Social Sciences. The teachers there
also promoted their own beliefs. People coming from a different ideology or affiliations
such as the RSS found it tough to negotiate their way in the campus. They were looked
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down upon by most as obscurantists. In the 1980s and 1990s, the ABVP would find it
tough even to field candidates.
The ABVP boys could be easily identified since they were a handful. They were too
scared of moving in the campus alone since Leftists would make fun of them. Some
hid their ideological affiliation and became members of the Free Thinkers. This breed
has died out with the strong emergence of the ABVP in recent years. Many other
students groups have emerged, based on narrow considerations. Anti-reservation
groups have their own wing, as do the pro-reservationists.

Ideology? Whats that?

One would imagine that the torch bearers of Left ideology on the campus would be
revolutionaries who have actually suffered at the hands of the exploiters and found
fulfilment in the atmosphere of the campus. But not so in real life!
Some of the most vocal supporters could be sons or daughters of top bureaucrats or
other elites of the society. Probably, it made their lives more meaningful; maybe they
saw it as a mechanism to atone for the sins of their sponsors. They could easily afford
to do so since after campus life, the stamp of JNU would give them access to higher
education abroad, plum jobs or other lucrative avenues.
Ram Bhaskar, who today works in an intelligence agency, says the Left has always
been fashionable on the campus. It was not important whether one knew anything
about Marx. For most of these students, thinking about the poor itself is the core of
Left ideology, he says.
Professor Devendra Choubey, noted Hindi writer and teacher at JNU, says that the
campus has witnessed ideological aberration in Left politics. This became more
pronounced after the Mandal Commission Report that unleashed various social group
formations based on identity politics. He cites the example of the All India Backward
Students Forum (AIBSF) that has emerged powerful and can be credited with
implementation of backward caste quota in recruitment of teachers in JNU.
Why is it then that the Leftparticularly the AISAinvariably wins the JNU student
elections? As it used to be fashionable to associate with the SFI in the 1990s, it is now
fashionable to associate with the AISA. Ideological clarity is missing and the
organisation has become more assimilative of various groups. For example, one
should not be surprised to see Backward Caste and Dalit forums supporting the AISA.
Some of those who were actually impressed by the Left and thought of holding the flag
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of the ideology high would be rewarded with teaching assignments in various

universities. This was the understanding. They had learnt one thing which no other
university taughtthe art of masterfully articulating a viewpoint, which consisted
mainly of an Angry Young Man image that proved they were keen to change the
system, and a few clichd quotes that presented them as scholarly and intellectual.
Some who were lucky and well connected with the politicos and the teaching faculty
would sneak into the campus later as teachers. Now, their task would be to mentor the
cadre and continue to do what they had been doing as students.

Little successes of the Right

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre under Atal Bihari
Vajpayee understood the importance of sending teachers into the campus. But some
of them who managed to get in riding on their rightist affiliation found themselves
isolated before the powerful Academic Council that controls most recruitment of
teachers.
Academics was the first choice of most students not seriously involved in campus
politics. Those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who were there to compete for the Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) were easily identified since their participation was
limited to late night discussions in hostel messes when speakers from outside would
come and deliver talks.
For Sanjay Verma, who edits a magazine now, healthy debates on issues was all that
mattered. For him, like many others, JNU provided the intellectual environment for the
mind to grow. If some drifted to Left politics, they knew they would have to depend on
the national leaders for recruitment in colleges and universities of Left-ruled states.The
leadership of the unions too often came from students from these states.
At the time when the Soviets ruled the roost, the Centre for Russian Studies was
supposed to be the most prestigious. Not only did it provide the ideological phalanges,
but it also proved to be a recruitment ground for most Leftist leaders. They would be
full-time activists, get low grades in examinations, but still manage to get plum
teaching jobs in Indias prestigious universities to teach international relations. They
used to visit Russia and also got admissions in Russian institutions.
As the Soviet Union disintegrated and Russia lost its hegemonic position, this Centre
lost its importance. The Leftists on the campus had to work harder, with the hope that
their ideology of the downtrodden would find resonance in the world outside.

Post-campus disappointments

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Post-campus disappointments
But not all who made good on the campus found their rightful place in Left
organisations outside. A classic case is Shakeel Ahmed Khan, from the Urdu language
course. He drifted into SFI politics and became the students union president. But after
campus life ended, there was no scope for him in Left politics as he was from Bihar
where the Communist parties hardly exist. He drifted to Ram Vilas Paswans Lok
Janshakti Party and finally to the Congress.He could have dreamt of a much better
political career if he had come from West Bengal or Kerala.
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and politburo member Sitaram Yechury are
living examples of how campus life helped boost political careers. The same
opportunities were not available to D.P. Tripathi, who was supposed to be one of the
most articulate students of Karats batch. Tripathi, who was in SFI and had led
agitational politics in JNU, is languishing as a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP).
After academics and politics, the most sought after career for JNU students has been
journalism. Some of the top editors in both print and television are from JNU. They
joined journalism to continue their campus activism. They gave ideological support to
the downtrodden and their pen invariably has a Leftist slant. But their influence today
seems to be on the wane because of the decline of print media, change in the very
structure of television news presentation and expansion of social media.
For others, non-government organisations (NGOs) offered a good escape. They would
join an NGO, learn the tricks of the trade and establish their own outfits. There would
thus be a network of NGOs supporting each other. The JNU connection came in handy
with those who controlled the purse strings. Even Congress regimes gave liberal
funding to these organizations. These NGOs are useful during movements on social
issues for providing cadre support base. Any attempt to bring more accountability in
these NGOs is likely to be opposed. Keeping them happy was one of the key strategies
of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the last 10 years.
JNU has not always been fair in giving opportunities to all shades of opinion. In the
zeal to defend subaltern issues and ideologies, it has also ended up rubbing
government the wrong way. It has often given shelter to Naxal and terrorist
sympathizers. At times it becomes rather blatant. It is not entirely wrong when the
campus is labelled a den of secessionism and hub of subversive activities.

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At times hapless students dreaming of revolution end up lodging an outsider in the

hostel who later turns out to be a part of a terrorist network. Staying of outsiders in the
hostels is not strictly monitored by the universitiy authorities, so such potentially
dangerous acts would often go undetected. Today, the intelligence arms of the
government keep an eagles eye on the campus.
JNU student leader Chandrashekhar was killed in Siwan in Bihar by goons of the
politician-gangster Mohammad Shahabuddin. While many try to glorify him, he was a
victim of JNU activism that saw him climb ladders fast amid chants of revolution by
the AISA. But the technique of argument and mobilisation did not work in thug-infested
Siwan, where guns did the talking. Fearlessness is a virtue, but chest-thumping is a
foolhardy tactic against bullets. While the entire student community empathized with
Chandrashekhar, a precious life was lost. Chandrashekhar, who came from Siwan,
dared Shahabuddin without any back-up. This showed his innocence, says Ajit Verma.
Another classic case is Subair of our times. He used to floor even the best of
presidential candidates in debates and polled substantial votes single-handedly. He
was more knowledgeable than many of his colleagues and was dreaded by one and all
if he entered a meeting. None of the ideological groups could bind him. He continued
to stay on the campus and aligned himself with many leaders such as Ram Vilas
Paswan and Sharad Yadav. There are many like Subair who fail to adjust to the outside
world and end up spending their life on the campus as a guest of some student friend
or the other. In JNU, at least you can survive with the little money that you can
generate.

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