Highhandedness, scandals, and bad press have rocked the CPI(M)'s students' wing in the only Left-ruled state in India.
Independence, Democracy and Socialism are now mere words printed on the white flag. (Supplied)
Though the idea was in currency even before, the saying, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” gained popularity after Lord Acton wrote the line in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887.
The English historian-politician’s reference was ostensibly to autocracy, where the Opposition is silent, or has been silenced. In a democracy, however, the Opposition has a constructive role: To rein in the arbitrariness of the rulers, to safeguard independence, and the rights of the people.
On Kerala’s educational campuses, however, such a constructive opposition seems to be missing of late. It has been practically wiped out by one dominant students’ outfit that rides roughshod over every rival.
And that outfit is the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) — the student arm of the state’s ruling CPI(M) — that is, of late, not averse to using strong-arm, even extremely violent, tactics, and is increasingly operating with impunity and outside the pale of law, as recent events have underlined.
It was not always so.
When the SFI was born in Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) in December 1970 with the slogan “Independence, Democracy and Socialism”, it had sparked hopes of bringing new energy and ideas to the student movement in India.
The new students’ organisation, a merged entity of several splinter groups that had left the moribund All India Students’ Federation (AISF), showed a willingness to raise its voice to champion student causes, as also face police “brutality” without fear — something that attracted the youth to it in hordes.
It gained an upper hand in several colleges and universities across Kerala and became a formidable force, further gaining strength and support during the internal emergency of 1975-77 when its members resisted police action against dissenting voices.
It also gained a reputation for championing progressive causes.
“Among the Indian states, higher education costs are most affordable in Kerala. It is the main contribution of the SFI, which waged protracted struggles against the commercialisation of education,” P Krishna Prasad, former national president of the SFI, told South First, putting it in a nutshell.
One of the founding leaders of the SFI, Prof TA Ushakumari, recalled that the organisation spread its wings on campuses by resisting the violent politics unleashed by the Kerala Students Unions (KSU), the student wing of the Congress party on the state.
And the SFI can boast of several firsts, including having an all-woman students’ union in Kerala colleges.
In recent years, disturbing trends are becoming visible in the SFI, much to the chagrin of old-timers who had studied, struggled, and sacrificed, as the organisation demanded.
The rot was gradual, but it did set in. The organisation diluted its ideology and philosophy as it chased material gains. Social responsibility took a backseat as leaders — a few, but prominent — used the outfit to further their interests.
“The SFI claims it stands for independence, democracy, and socialism. But, in practice, most SFI units in Kerala do not respect, or adhere to, these concepts. These units are nurturing leaders with sheer disrespect for democracy,” Malayalam writer and Left fellow-traveller B Rajeevan observed.
The CPI(M)-led LDF rode back to power for a consecutive second term — a rarity in Kerala — in May 2021. The retention of power has made the SFI leaders take to ever more undemocratic means for gains, as recent incidents have indicated.
And it rings a bell: “…absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
Rajeevan referred to the alleged forging of certificates by two now-ousted SFI leaders K Vidya and Nikhil Thomas. Both were arrested after being on the run briefly.
Nikhil Thomas and K Vidya.
Vidya allegedly furnished a fake teaching experience certificate to secure a guest faculty position at a government college in Attappady, Palakkad.
Thomas reportedly produced a fake certificate from Kalinga University in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to gain admission to a post-graduate programme at Milad-E-Sherif Memorial (MSM) College in Kayamkulam. It has been alleged that he had not graduated.
The police arrested Vidya on 21 June, 15 days after she was charged, with the CPI(M) denying that she was on the run. Thomas was arrested late on 23 June, after five days on the run,
Senior journalist and former SFI leader NP Chekkutty put the present state of affairs in the SFI succinctly: A political leadership with limited vision is promoting the lumpen elements currently controlling the union.
“Bright students from poor backgrounds are being sidelined while those with money and muscle power get the patronage of leaders,” he told South First.
Akhil Chandran, a student of the Government University College in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city, ceased to be an SFI supporter on 12 July, 2019. It was the day that he was stabbed on campus.
The police named R Shivarenjith, the SFI unit president of the college, and AN Naseem, as the first and second accused. It was reported that Shivarenjith stabbed Chandran for singing in the canteen.
An inspection conducted at Shivarenjith’s residence led the police to a set of Kerala University answer sheets, which the SFI leader reportedly admitted that he had stolen from the college.
The University College, located a stone’s throw away from the AKG Centre, the CPI(M)’s state headquarters, has been an SFI fort, with the outfit often flexing its muscles to discourage the presence of other students’ organisations, including the AISF.
Apparently, “Independence, Democracy and Socialism” are mere words printed in red on the politically intolerant union’s white flag in University College — and several other campuses across the state.
Nimisha Raju, a Kochi-based lawyer and CPI activist, recalled an afternoon two years ago at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam. The AISF had deputed her to oversee the election to the University Senate.
SFI state secretary PM Arsho (Supplied)
SFI leaders, including state secretary PM Arsho, allegedly attacked her when she questioned the violence they had unleashed to rig the election.
They attacked her physically, apart from hurling abuses. “It would be disgusting to recall the foul words, including casteist slurs, they used against me,” she told South First.
“They told me they would make me give birth to a bastard. I was shocked when they repeatedly abused me by referring to my caste. They were anti-women and anti-Dalit,” she further said.
“My entire body turned numb when they grabbed me and attacked,” Raju said.
She is still waging a legal war to punish the SFI leaders, including Arsho.
Raju said there is still no dearth of threats, intimidation, and coercion, demanding that she abandon the case.
Even the teaching staff are not spared. C Moly Marceline, a former principal of University College, accused the SFI of using its cadres to stifle freedom and democracy.
Retired in 2014 after teaching for a quarter of a century in different government colleges, she said the SFI shielded criminal elements to safeguard its citadels.
“Most leaders are lethal mixes of arrogance and power. They always acted as if they were more powerful than the teachers,” she told South First.
S Varghese, also a former principal of the University College, concurred.
“When I tried to instill some discipline in the college, the SFI leaders pelted my room with stones. I withdrew after a majority of teachers joined the students protesting against me. Now the hooliganism of SFI leaders has reached its saturation point,” he observed.
Many teachers are members of an association owing allegiance to the CPI(M), the SFI’s parent organisation.
“Democracy” is part of the slogan the SFI has aligned with. On 22 February, 2012, The Washington Post highlighted the importance of democracy in its masthead with the slogan, Democracy Dies in Darkness.
Akhila Nandakumar. (Sourced)
Ignoring the role of the media in a democracy, the SFI has attempted to gag the fourth estate multiple times.
On 10 June, the Ernakulam Central Police registered a case against Akhila Nandakumar, the Chief Reporter of Asianet News for airing an incident involving SFI state secretary Arsho.
The live report from Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam was about an allegation that Arsho had passed the third-semester examination without sitting for it. The college clarified that a technical error had “passed” Arsho.
A day after the case was registered with Nandakumar as the fifth accused, CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan reportedly said at Panur in Kannur that the same fate would befall those presenting “fake” news against the SFI and the LDF government.
He was speaking at the remembrance meeting of PK Kunhanandan, a CPI(M) leader convicted in the sensational TP Chandrasekharan murder case. Two days later, Govindan did a U-turn, blaming the media for misconstruing his speech. “Passing off sheep as a dog,” he taunted reporters.
The protest banner erected by SFi activists who barged into Asianet office in Kochi. (Supplied)
Govindan’s Panur speech, meanwhile, received bouquets and brickbats. While pro-CPI(M) handles on social media celebrated the threat, Opposition parties, academia, journalists, and intellectuals condemned it.
The SFI’s case against Nandakumar and the attempt to gag the media are not aberrations. On 3 March, a group of SFI workers barged into the office of the Asianet News in Kochi and intimidated the staff over a news report.
Incidentally, veteran journalist N Ram was the first vice president of the SFI.
“The organisation that once fought for equality and social justice in the education sector has lost its direction ever since Pinarayi Vijayan emerged as the face of CPI(M) in Kerala,” KM Shajahan, a former SFI leader, said.
“Sycophancy has become the core of SFI’s activities, and Left ideology has been conveniently forgotten. Those who indulge in criminal activities receive political protection,” Shajahan, who was also a former private secretary to VS Achuthanandan when he was the chief minister, told South First.
Poet and former leader of the CPI(M)-affiliated Progressive Arts and Literary Organisation KC Umesh Babu said that, barring a few, the SFI has total control of all college campuses in Kerala.
“As there is no opposition, democracy has ceased to exist on campuses. What we see in the recent scandals involving SFI is a progression of gangsterism. The second consecutive win of CPI(M) in Kerala instilled in SFI an extra confidence to do as they wish,” he said.
Finance Minister KN Balagopal, Industry Minister P Rajeev, Tourism Minister Muhammed Riyas, Excise Minister MB Rajesh, former ministers TM Thomas Isaac, Politburo member MA Baby, and former MP Suresh Kurup evolved as seasoned politicians through the SFI.
The highhandedness and decadence of the SFI have alarmed LDF partners as well. Kanam Rajendran, the state secretary of the ruling front’s second-largest constituent, the CPI, stated in a party meeting that allegations against SFI leaders eclipsed the hard-won achievements made in the state’s higher education sector.
Demanding a comprehensive inquiry into the academic fraud threatening the credibility of the state’s higher education sector, Rajendran reminded the CPI(M) that the Left and progressive student organisations have a storied history and legacy to guard.
He felt the Left parties are duty-bound to ensure student organisations operate with social responsibility.
According to former SFI leader and academic Azad Malayattil, the patronage politics preferred by the CPI(M) and the lack of corrective measures landed the organisation in the present unenviable situation.
“Apolitical people without any exposure to the Left ideology and lacking idealism are occupying top slots in the SFI. They even attempt impersonation by paying scant regard to democracy and elections,” he told South First, referring to the recent incidents that have exposed senior SFI leaders.
With the rot in the SFI raising a stink in the state, the CPI(M) leadership on Thursday, 22 June, directed its district units to closely monitor the activities of the student wing.
The SFI’s contributions to the state’s educational sector cannot be ignored. The outfit forced the successive LDF and UDF governments to invest heavily in professional education.
“The SFI always remained vigilant against commercialisation of the education sector and resisted self-financing managements and their unilateral moves to reap exorbitant profits,” said Krishna Prasad, who now works among farmers, said.
“The organisation has ensured quality and affordable education to all. It always resisted communalisation and criminalisation of campuses. Also, it continues to keep a vigil against the spread of narcotics among students,” he listed out the achievements.
“Anti-communal and anti-imperialist sentiments prevail among the young generation only because of the SFI,” he told South First.
However, if SFI leaders take a stand against the right of other student unions to function, it is against the fundamental principles of the union, he added.
Krishna Prasad, who was president of the SFI in 2000, went on to suggest the way forward.
“The SFI must desist from inciting violence as the organisation never wanted to physically eliminate rivals. Isolated unhealthy tendencies must be resisted by SFI members and they must stand for democracy,” he suggested.
“It is time to regain the fundamentals of the organisation.”
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 08, 2024
May 07, 2024
May 06, 2024
May 05, 2024
