JNU- A CULURE OF DEBATE AND DISCUSSION

New Delhi, September 21       

In the aftermath of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union elections, the heated discussions in the JNU campus have simmered.  Is it so, because the season of politics is a thing of the past or were the students bogged down by their upcoming examinations and presentations. Is it so, because the expectations from the victors leave no space for any further questions or because the others are busy in formulating strategies for the road ahead?

JNU students have moved out of the election phase and the campus has now settled into its academic province. Amidst these rushes to the library, was also the Presidential candidate of SFI, Pingali Ambedkar, who said that there is hardly any activity visible on the campus as the winning party was never going to do anything. This lull was  a result of depoliticizing the students, degrading the debate and discussion culture.

Quality of discussion has gone down because of the cynicism ideology taking its rounds in the campus. A style of politics that is different from all other institutes has sustained here because of the 'debate and discussion culture'.  The General Body Meeting, which is supposed to happen twice every semester and keep everyone aware  has still not taken place, so the fodder for discussion is diluted.

The political culture, post the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, has undergone a shift as the elections are now conducted in the early part of the academic year. By numbers, the maximum voters are first year students, who are mostly seeing such politics for the first time and are blinded by the perks they receive during the campaign. Parties catch them young and the persistent issue of hostel crisis takes its roots. The student develops a feudal relationship with the person who gets them the hostel. So, the progressive politics of JNU is seeing a shift to PR politics, which definitely is not a healthy trend.

A democratic campus, where students really have a say in everything that is going on, has made it possible for the left to sustain itself in the campus. The student faculty committees(SFC), GSCASH, equal opportunity office, and with this the research oriented students which form a majority are watchful of the actions and inactions of the union. They have time to analyse things.

The absence of elections from 2008-2012 have degraded the quality of both elections and discussions. According to one student, this resulted in a generation of students completely unaware of active student politics which has had its negative repercussions. The onus is on everyone to revive the fighting and questioning culture of JNU. Another student agreed that bringing the active politics back into the campus requires conscious efforts.

While the campus was still covered with the election posters, Kabeer, a student from Bangladesh said he voted for Ashutosh as he was impressed  by his arguments in the presidential debate. He voiced a serious concern over the disturbance created during elections, which makes studying impossible. When people come to interact, they would ask for two minutes but go on and on and on. The noise is sometimes unbearable.

Neeraj, a student of information technology said, "The strongholds have remained so for a long time now and there seems to be no change in it because the organisation that a centre supports becomes a part of the culture."

Sudhir Verma, a research scholar in the School of International Studies said, "JNU is the little democracy of India. Modi in the center has reflected in the ascent of ABVP in the union elections as well. Eliteness of politics is excluded in JNU."

JNU is like a sandalwood forest, where not only the sandalwood trees but also the other trees in the vicinity start smelling like sandalwood. JNU politics is one such example where every organisation is with a softer, yet rational and logical tinge. A place where there is a strong counter for every ideology, even the left organisations have differing degrees of leftism,  A place where elections are fought not on the basis of money and muscle power, but on the basis of ideology and intellect, a place where man-to-man campaigning is still stronger than the intrusion of social media, a place where the elections are a celebration of Democracy, JNU continues to give us optimism that the future of our democracy as a nation is both informed and secure, provided the culture of debate and discussion is preserved and popularised throughout the country.