Kerala, which has sent people into a tizzy about the student-politics that is happening behind the closed doors here in the state. A stupefying report has been released by an independent commission headed by Justice PK Shamsuddin here in Kerala, The commission found out that government colleges in the state, apart from University College in Thiruvananthapuram, have turned their students’ union offices into ‘idi muri’ or ‘torture chambers’. The students who do not concur with the ideology of Students Federation of India (SFI), an affiliate student-body of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), are taken into these torture rooms where they are beaten and bruised.
The first-year students in colleges shared their experience with the commission of being physically and emotionally harassed at the union offices. CPI (M) has a long-drawn history of resorting to violence and that has certainly rubbed off on SFI, which has made a mockery of student politics in India. Majority of the complaints have been against SFI, according to the report.
The commission was formed after the suicide attempt of a student named S. Nikhila, a B.Sc student in University College, Thiruvananthapuram, who released the report after the first copy was handed to her. The report was prepared by the commission after meeting with the students, alumni and faculties of various government colleges in the state.
The commission report, which studied the unlawful activities prevalent in the campuses in Kerala, was submitted to the Kerala Governor on Monday. The Commission has called for appointing an ombudsman with statutory powers to deal with complaints of atrocities on the campus, reads a TOI report.
The severe autocratic ways of SFI has created a lot of ruckus across the colleges. The report also states that riots happen on campuses with the backing of top political leadership. Regular political clashes in colleges have become the norm in Kerala. In July 2019, four SFI activists were arrested for a near-fatal knife attack on their college mate which resulted in a wave of anti-SFI protest across the state, CPI(M) here is to be blamed for cultivating the horrendous culture of violence amongst its party-members and students wing. Those who do not conform with the extreme leftist ideology of the SFI have been facing torture, threats and fatal attacks. Faculty members, who are mostly leftist themselves ignore complaints of harassment and torture.
The political left-wing in India is obsolete, if not borderline militant. This extremism has affected large parts of India, however, left-wing intellectuals are usually no less destructive and violent. The footprint of the left has already shrunk so much in the country that it should be a reason to be worried about them. But if Left continues to walk down this path of extreme violence and malice, it would not be long before the left or specifically, in this case, SFI and CPI(M) be snapped out of existence. The state government has to take the onus on itself and instill the belief in students that their lives are not under threat despite having different political ideologies.
