‘Relief and new hope’: How student leaders see the Lok Sabha election results 2024

By Atul Krishna, Pritha Roy Chowdhary, Sheena Sachdeva, Sanjay & Shradha Chettri

NEW DELHI: In the results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and the Bharatiya Janta Party’s failure to secure a majority, many student leaders and organisations found a ray of hope and relief. They’ve also found new energy to resist the curbing of academic freedom.

“In this result, people have come together to protest, question and call out the education policies of the government. A united resistance has emerged,” said Ramadas Prini Sivanandan, a PhD scholar from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Earlier this year, Sivanandan was suspended for two years for participating in a parliament march in Delhi organised by the United Students of India. The march was mainly against the National Education Policy 2020, a pan-India framework for education which the Narendra Modi government implemented without tabling in parliament.

Since the first Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, students and teachers, especially those of India’s most hallowed social science and humanities institutions, have been under attack. Students and teachers have been suspended, evicted from hostels, even imprisoned for opposing the BJP government’s policies.

“Right from the Citizenship Amendment Act protest held in 2019 to the recent Ram Mandir inauguration, the government has constantly tried to saffronise university spaces, which have stood on the principles of constitution and secularism,” said President Parichay Yadav, Pondicherry University Students' Council. In 2019, a gold medalist Muslim student was not allowed to attend the university’s convocation.

The BJP will be in government again and Modi in the prime minister’s seat. But students believe the party’s attenuated dominance in the Lok Sabha will ensure things change.

Mayukh Biswas, general secretary of the left-wing Student Federation of India (SFI) believes the Lok Sabha elections mark the end of the era when the regime could keep pressuring students.

“The youth of the country stood against Modi policies and voted accordingly in the general elections 2024,” said Jawaharlal University Students Union (JNUSU) president Dhananjay.

Star Blurb A member of Ambedkar Phule Periyar Study Circle of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay said, “More than INDIA alliance gaining seats, the focus is on BJP losing more seats and people have rejected the massive propaganda, assault on democratic institutions and attack on space for dissent. Now there is a sense of relief and new hope, especially with an uprising of student movement and fear may go away. There is much more to fight for.”

NEP, suicides, fund cuts

Students across the university campuses have been constantly protesting on issues related to fee hikes, fund cuts, National Education Policy, suicides with everything falling on deaf ears.

“The last 10 years of the Modi government has been marked by fund cuts and fee hikes in several universities and youth remaining unemployed after completing their education,” said Dhananjay.

Yadav agreed. “There has been rampant privatisation within the university spaces, fee hikes to the tune of 200%, celebration for Ram Mandir – these have been centre-stage. Students think that election results are a slap on [the face of] the current government. Whatever narrative BJP-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) nexus has been trying to achieve or bring again, people of India have given a mandate against their agenda and narrative.”

Students also hope that the constant surveillance and control of what students do in their daily lives – food choices and setting up study circles, for instance – will ease off. IIT Madras’ 2015 attempt to ban the Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle presaged the widespread crackdown on student activists and protests across campuses, nearly always with the support of the administration.

“There has been a constant attack on student organisations on the lines of caste and students have been feeling threatened because the cost of speaking up was too high,” said the member of APPSC. But now after the results, students feel vindicated.

“The numbers within the parliament matters because policies like NEP were passed without having discussion and no committees or stakeholders were referred to. Now, it's a message that they cannot pass any policy like previous times and clear mandate from people of India against authoritarian government and it is possible to vote the fascist forces out,” said Sivanandan.

Hopeful for future

Student leaders believe that with a coalition government at the helm, the BJP will not be able to push through policies that curtailed the academic freedom of universities. They also believe that with a stronger opposition their concerns will find a voice.

“We are hopeful because there is a stronger opposition. There are various things that the opposition has raised objections to the oppressive policies of the government. Even when it comes to implementing the Rohith Vemula Act, many opposition parties including Congress and Rahul Gandhi himself have said that it should be implemented across the country. We are hoping that because of the coalition government and because there will be a strong opposition this time, autocratic policies will not be implemented,” said Deepak Kumar Arya, general secretary of Hyderabad University Students' Union. Before JNU students found themselves in the crosshairs of the BJP and its supporters, University of Hyderabad saw the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit PhD scholar who took his own life after being evicted from his hostel and having his scholarship stopped. A BJP MP had complained to Smriti Irani, then human resource development minister, against Vemula and four other students.

Like the BJP is still in government, the vice-chancellors and directors appointed by the last government continue to be administrators at the institutions. But here, too, students expect change.

“I think there will be pressure on university administrations to not curtail academic freedom in the campus. In the previous two terms of the Modi government, university and police administration used to deny permission for protests. I think we will now be able to hold protests against the education policies of the Modi government. I think university administration will appoint deserving candidates instead of former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) office bearers,” said Abhi Dahiya, the sole National Students Union of India member in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) and its vice president.

But it may be too late for some policies, such as the NEP and the Common University Entrance Test.

“I think, if BJP had come in majority, they would have brought a lot of changes, which might not be good, so that is solved. But what is already there can't be changed. However, I also feel that not being in majority may also mean they might want to bring in scarier things,” said Jenny Rowena P, wife of jailed teacher Hany Babu. Babu, an associate professor of English was arrested in 2020 in the Elgar Parishad case and imprisoned in Mumbai. About the case she said, “I feel in our case it is only the legal route we have to take. There is no way to change that.”

What needs changing

According to many teachers, universities had lost their autonomy in taking academic decisions due to persistent top-down interventions from the ministry. They hope that the policies that come in henceforth will strengthen the foundations of universities.

“We witnessed cases where foreign academics, invited for conferences, were denied entry without explanation. This stifles international academic collaboration… Universities must regain their autonomy and freedom. Policies should focus on strengthening the quality of education and research. Effective utilisation of funds and reduction of bureaucratic hurdles are essential for academic growth. Public universities should receive adequate funding to maintain high standards without exorbitant fees. Many top scholars and students are leaving India for better opportunities abroad. I wish to see that they have adequate opportunities here,” said Manash Maity, professor of physics, Visva Bharati University. The university saw extreme conflict between staff and students on the one side and the centrally-appointed vice-chancellor on the other, leading to suspensions and court cases.

Teachers also see the growing privatisation of universities as something that needs addressing. Universities across the country, whether central or state, have been complaining about lack of funds from the governments which force them to look at alternative methods of fundraising, including increasing fees.

“Another issue is privatisation, it has introduced another layer of complexity. This creates a disparity in education quality and opportunities. Additionally, the increasing reliance on private tuition and digital education platforms highlights the gaps in our formal education system. Recruitment processes must prioritise the quality and dedication of teachers, and education should be made accessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic status. This can happen only through comprehensive and thoughtful policy changes,” said Sampa Choudhury, retired professor of Bengali literature, Jadavpur University.

“The surge in privatisation has widened the gap in education quality. While private institutions offer better facilities, they are often too expensive for many students. Numerous private colleges compromise on quality by hiring under qualified teachers for lower salaries. This disparity creates an unequal education system where only a few have access to high-quality education. Policy changes should be made in consultation with education experts, ensuring they address the real issues rather than adopting systems that may not suit our context,” said Sanjib Kar, professor at the department of agriculture chemistry and soil science, Calcutta University.