The Students' Federation of India (SFI) called upon all 'progressive forces' — basically appealing to all the leftist unions in Delhi University — to join forces for the upcoming Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections to give a 'viable alternative' to the students in this year’s elections. It may be recalled that the ABVP swept the DUSU polls last year and has most recently been in the news for installing a statue of Savarkar sans permission before they were forced to take it down and stash it in their office.
"The SFI's call for Left unity is the actualisation of the politics that we stand for ― uncompromising united struggle on the student's issues. SFI has been contesting elections jointly with other progressive organisations for several years now. SFI which have been at the forefront of the all the movements — Library Satyagraha Movement, mass failure in the Maths department, Save Dyal Singh College movement — has again called for an electoral alliance this year to bring other major left organisations on board, to give students a viable option for alternate politics," said Vikas Bhadauria, President, Delhi State Committee of SFI.
"With the ever-increasing attack on the education system and campus democracy, it has become imminent for the major left forces to come on board, if we are serious about resisting these two-fold attacks — privatisation and commercialisation on one hand, and communalism and shrinking democratic rights of students on the other," said the student organisation. "Delhi University has always been a laboratory for experiments for pushing neoliberal policies - the semester system, FYUP, CBCS and now, a naked sword of New Education Policy is also hanging over our education system. Clearly, the current Modi government wants to crush and tame the universities and student’s movement to root out all the possibilities of resistance," they added.
The student body blamed a part of the media for branding the 'progressive' section of students and teachers as ‘anti-national’. "Delhi University has always been a breeding ground for hooliganism for years with ABVP and NSUI indulging in violence. These two political forces have ruled the DUSU for years and have managed, to a great degree, to suppress the space for alternate politics," they added. The SFI alleged that the students are being discouraged from raising their concerns and exercising their democratic rights by the administration supported by the current government. An all-round deliberate attempt, they said, is being made to reduce the legitimate voices and criticism to "a binary with the help of communalist and hyper-nationalist forces". As these students struggle to maintain their education and democratic rights, they come into conflict with the administration, the government, and organisations like ABVP and NSUI, which can bring students closer to the ‘Organised Left’ only if it stands as one.
"A broader left coalition is what we require which seeks to increase communication, unity, and solidarity on campus. We must also try to understand what kind of unity is necessitated by the prevailing circumstances. We have all agreed from time to time to bring together progressive forces in action, on a common minimum understanding," the statement added. "The short-cut of the opportunistic electoral alliance by compromising the ideals of progressive student movement cannot be the way forward. SFI believes that the conditions for this unity are ripe and the left student organisations are in a position to bridge the existing divisions today, only if we show some audacity to do it. This open call for alliance also reflects the aspirations and demands of Delhi University students who have been waiting to see the grand left alliance in DU on the lines of JNU," the student organ added.
