SFI dips its banner in honour of Comrade Sudipto Gupta, member of its West Bengal State Committee, who died yesterday after being brutally assaulted by the police. The brave 22-year old comrade was part of the protest by four left student organisations against the series of moves by the state government which seek to curb campus democracy, the most retrograde of which would limit students’ union elections to only once every two years. The police ruthlessly lathi charged students demanding their democratic rights. Sudipto was beaten to death in police custody - the violence was so horrific that Sudipto’s eyeballs came out. The grisly terror that sought to buttress the tyrannical rule of the ruling classes mercilessly cut short a young, promising life.
Here was a person who had, as Mayakovsky would have put it, “chosen to assert on behalf of the future generations that we shall refashion life on earth!” Here was a young man, who had chosen not to succumb to all the pressures to go along with the status quo. Here was a comrade who chose to protest on behalf of students and all those yearning for democratic rights against the assaults on campus democracy rather than being content remaining in the “safe” confines of his home and classroom.
What was it really that made the ruling classes unleash violence in such a gruesome manner? History provides us some answers. Even during the days of the semi-fascist terror of the 1970s, the campuses in West Bengal were hotbeds of resistance. Today when Mamata Banerjee is leaving no stone unturned to once again take back Bengal to an age reminiscent of those dark days of terror, the voices of resistance are once again rising up from campuses and joining those who are struggling outside. It is the panic of the ruling classes at this wave of rising anger among the students and the youth that has led them to let loose such thuggish violence.
The latest move to curb union elections in Bengal comes on top of a number of previous attacks on democracy in academic institutions. Elected bodies have been dismissed arbitrarily and the posts have been allotted to Trinamool Congress supporters. At the same time, anybody raising any voice of criticism against the government has been branded a “Maoist”. Whether it be the case of the Jadavpur University professor who was arrested for forwarding an e-mail which took a dig at Mamata Banerjee, or that of the student who asked uncomfortable questions to the Chief Minister during a TV programme, or that of the farmer who was detained for voicing his grievances, the ruling dispensation’s absolute intolerance of criticism has reared its ugly head again and again.
It was only a few weeks back that the eyes of a worker were gorged out and his ears cut for having participated in the General Strike. The utter callousness shown by ministers and government functionaries in cases of assaults on women, including attempts to portray such cases as “fake” and “orchestrated” provide more evidence to the menacing nature of TMC’s rule. And all these have been happening in the backdrop of large-scale evictions of peasants from their rightful land. Places such as Haroa block in North 24 Parganas, Bolpur block in Birbhum, Bhangar & Sonarpur blocks in South 24 Parganas, and Purbasthali block in Burdwan have witnessed the eviction of thousands of Adivasi, Dalit and Muslim peasants who had been landless earlier and were granted pattas during the term of the Left Front governments. The most brutal violence on Left Front supporters has accompanied this regressive turn of events – since May 2009, well above 450 supporters of the Left Front have been murdered by goons belonging to the TMC or the CPI(Maoist).
But, let it be clear that the martyrdom of our brave comrade shall not go in vain. In the coming days the struggle against the authoritarian regime of Mamata Banerjee shall become stronger and sharper. The Central Executive Committee of SFI has called for an All India Protest day on 4 April (tomorrow) across the campuses and units of the country against the heinous murder of Com. Sudipto and against the attack on democratic rights. The students of West Bengal will go on a massive statewide strike on the same day.
SFI demands that the criminals responsible for the heinous murder of Com. Sudipto be prosecuted and given exemplary punishment. We demand a judicial enquiry into the whole incident. We warn the Trinamool Congress and the government led by it to put an immediate end to the ghastly violence unleashed by them against students and to immediately stop all assaults on campus democracy, failing which they should be prepared to face the wrath of the students and the youth.
SFI calls upon the student community of JNU to participate in large numbers in tonight’s burning of the effigy of the authoritarian Trinamool government and in tomorrow’s protest demonstration at Banga Bhawan.
Sd/-
Deepanjan, Jt. Secretary, SFI JNU Unit
Viswanathan V, Jt. Secretary, SFI JNU Unit
Here was a person who had, as Mayakovsky would have put it, “chosen to assert on behalf of the future generations that we shall refashion life on earth!” Here was a young man, who had chosen not to succumb to all the pressures to go along with the status quo. Here was a comrade who chose to protest on behalf of students and all those yearning for democratic rights against the assaults on campus democracy rather than being content remaining in the “safe” confines of his home and classroom.
What was it really that made the ruling classes unleash violence in such a gruesome manner? History provides us some answers. Even during the days of the semi-fascist terror of the 1970s, the campuses in West Bengal were hotbeds of resistance. Today when Mamata Banerjee is leaving no stone unturned to once again take back Bengal to an age reminiscent of those dark days of terror, the voices of resistance are once again rising up from campuses and joining those who are struggling outside. It is the panic of the ruling classes at this wave of rising anger among the students and the youth that has led them to let loose such thuggish violence.
The latest move to curb union elections in Bengal comes on top of a number of previous attacks on democracy in academic institutions. Elected bodies have been dismissed arbitrarily and the posts have been allotted to Trinamool Congress supporters. At the same time, anybody raising any voice of criticism against the government has been branded a “Maoist”. Whether it be the case of the Jadavpur University professor who was arrested for forwarding an e-mail which took a dig at Mamata Banerjee, or that of the student who asked uncomfortable questions to the Chief Minister during a TV programme, or that of the farmer who was detained for voicing his grievances, the ruling dispensation’s absolute intolerance of criticism has reared its ugly head again and again.
It was only a few weeks back that the eyes of a worker were gorged out and his ears cut for having participated in the General Strike. The utter callousness shown by ministers and government functionaries in cases of assaults on women, including attempts to portray such cases as “fake” and “orchestrated” provide more evidence to the menacing nature of TMC’s rule. And all these have been happening in the backdrop of large-scale evictions of peasants from their rightful land. Places such as Haroa block in North 24 Parganas, Bolpur block in Birbhum, Bhangar & Sonarpur blocks in South 24 Parganas, and Purbasthali block in Burdwan have witnessed the eviction of thousands of Adivasi, Dalit and Muslim peasants who had been landless earlier and were granted pattas during the term of the Left Front governments. The most brutal violence on Left Front supporters has accompanied this regressive turn of events – since May 2009, well above 450 supporters of the Left Front have been murdered by goons belonging to the TMC or the CPI(Maoist).
But, let it be clear that the martyrdom of our brave comrade shall not go in vain. In the coming days the struggle against the authoritarian regime of Mamata Banerjee shall become stronger and sharper. The Central Executive Committee of SFI has called for an All India Protest day on 4 April (tomorrow) across the campuses and units of the country against the heinous murder of Com. Sudipto and against the attack on democratic rights. The students of West Bengal will go on a massive statewide strike on the same day.
SFI demands that the criminals responsible for the heinous murder of Com. Sudipto be prosecuted and given exemplary punishment. We demand a judicial enquiry into the whole incident. We warn the Trinamool Congress and the government led by it to put an immediate end to the ghastly violence unleashed by them against students and to immediately stop all assaults on campus democracy, failing which they should be prepared to face the wrath of the students and the youth.
SFI calls upon the student community of JNU to participate in large numbers in tonight’s burning of the effigy of the authoritarian Trinamool government and in tomorrow’s protest demonstration at Banga Bhawan.
Sd/-
Deepanjan, Jt. Secretary, SFI JNU Unit
Viswanathan V, Jt. Secretary, SFI JNU Unit
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