Education system suppressing student activism'

Mangalore, April 9: The current education system has been designed to create readymade products from colleges and universities for Multi-National Companies and suppress student activism said Anis Ahmed, Chairman, National Advisory Board, Campus Front of India (CFI).

Speaking at the National Delegates Conference of CFI in Mangalore on Monday, Mr. Ahmed said that post-1991 after globalization, liberalization and privatization gained entry in India, the education system was tweaked in such a way that getting a good job in a reputed company was made the sole goal of study. “Today, in India, you are told that if you want to have a good white collar job, you have to refrain from activism. Students today are not interested in opting for Arts subjects. Even the syllabus that we have for Sociology revolves around business. If this trend continues, there would be intellectual bankruptcy in the future”, Mr. Ahmed opined.

Stating that the semester system was introduced to keep students busy with exams all the time as a tool to provide no scope for student activism, Mr. Ahmed said that a strong student movement was necessary to bring about a social change in India. “Congress' student movement was very active during the freedom struggle but once Congress came to power after overthrowing the British Raj, it died down. The Jayaprakash Narayan movement is another example. People like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav are products of the student movement that fought against Indira Gandhi's Emergency”, he said.

Lamenting that although there is no shortage of student organisations in the country, Mr. Ahmed said that political affiliations have been acting as a hurdle as far as social change is concerned. “The SFI in Kerala is active since Congress is in power. When the Communist government was ruling, they were in silent mode. All student organisations talk about putting an end to corruption but none of them speak out when leaders of their political parties are in question concerning corruption issues. The ABVP held an anti-terrorism campaign. It was a big joke since a Pragya Singh Thakur who was part of the organization is herself a terrorist”, Mr. Ahmed said.

Abdur Rauf, National General Secretary, Campus Front of India, in his introductory remarks said that social injustice is widespread in India today. “In Manipur, using the AFSPA rule, security forces are raping women in the name of special powers. Hundreds die of starvation in the country. Being impartial is being hypocritical. We are for the marginalized and the weak”, Mr. Rauf said.

Muhammad Shakeer, National Vice President, CFI, welcomed. Anis-uz-Zaman, National President, CFI, Muhammad Thufail, Karnataka State President, CFI, Muhammad Elyas Thumbe, Karnataka State President, Popular Front of India, and Abdul Majid Kodlipet, Karnataka State President, Social Democratic Party of India were also present.