The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Are protests suppressed in deemed universities?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Are protests suppressed in deemed universities?

J. Malarvizhi

Students' claims raise doubts over compliance with AICTE standards "Young people expressing a valid grievance have to cover their faces and fear for their lives. Things were not this bad even during the Emergency"

CHENNAI: The protests by students of deemed universities have brought back the issues raised recently by the Lyngdoh Committee to decide the fate of student unions.

Several news channels have run visuals of students with masked faces declaiming the attitude of the management of deemed universities when they raised doubts about their compliance with AICTE (All-India Council for Technical Education) standards.

M.G. Devasahayam of SUSTAIN, a non-governmental organisation, said: "Young people expressing a valid grievance have to cover their faces and fear for their lives. Things were not this bad even during the Emergency," he said.

The absence of a grievance redress mechanism was an important reason for students having to live in fear, he said.

In fact, the past few weeks of protest has itself surprised many. For nearly two decades, no dissent was allowed in unaided institutions. There have been reports of physical threats and assault on students, and parents too intimidated by managements.

Amid the protest over the AICTE approval issue, the students of at least one institution repeatedly complained about bad treatment. The students with `masked faces' expressed their anger loudly to mediapersons.

Shweta Narayan of Corporate Accountability Desk agreed.

"This is not something that developed overnight. Campus authorities have failed to respect students and provide them with the space or forums to express themselves," she said.

While attempting to report an incident of manhandling on the IIT campus, she was dismissed as she was an "outsider," she recalled.

There was no platform for dialogue because no democracy existed in educational institutions, said S.S. Rajagopalan, educationist.

The silence of the government was flayed by all activists and human rights organisations contacted.

The protests showed the failure of the state to protect the interests of the students, said Mr. Devasahayam.

D. Nagasaila, district president of the People's Union of Civil Liberties, concurs with Dr. Rajagopalan that the AICTE had the right to ask for particulars.

The absence of accountability was one of the reasons for the crisis in higher education.

Parents and students had neglected the urgent task of questioning falling standards, said Ms. Nagasaila.

"These protests might even be too little, too late. But at a time when any concerted voice from students is looked at suspiciously, this issue could help consolidate the student movement and the demand for standards and quality," she said.

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