‘JNU students care about mess food, safety; not mandir’

Not just the polls itselfmdashwhich had been in limbo since COVID19 mdashbut the Jawaharlal Nehru University JNU student election this year was historic in more than just one way The other milestone is that the All India Studentsrsquo Association AISA backed a Dalit candidate Dhananjaymdashwho omits his last name to duck castebased biasmdash and broke a 30year jinx of underrepresentation of the communityJNUrsquos history of dissent has earned it the reputation of being the bastion of Left Wing ideologies In recent times this was most evident when the Citizen Amendment Act CAA was first announced in December 2019 Protests erupted on the campus and climaxed in a faceoff between the students and Delhi police and the arrest of studentactivists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid under charges of sedition This week midday spoke with the PhD student from Gaya Bihar who was elected President of JNUrsquos student body about the inroads made by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad ABVP and the atmosphere of polarisation on campus His win has been by no slim margin Dhananjay secured 2598 of 4274 votes numbers the university has never seen beforeOn the horizon looms a new movie called Jehangir National University set to release on April 4 The Studentrsquos Federation of India SFI recently asked JNU vicechancellor Santishree D Pandit to ban the screening on campus as it portrays students as antinational elementsExcerpts from the interviewHas the AVBP been able to gain serious ground on campus It seems more visible and vocal having organised multiple gatherings Its membership is also said to have grown over the last four yearsWe havenrsquot lost ground but there has been a rise in Right wing sentiments Then again thatrsquos true all over the country However there is always room for debate and discussions on this campus No one can and would run away from a debate at JNU thatrsquos just the way we are primed to behave in the university We understand that the Right wing is trying to show its influence like it does in Delhi University by using money muscle But in JNU you have to engage in debate and you have to winHave you found common ground with students from opposing ideologyA student looks at the world around them from the perspective of welfare Who is making the most noise to ensure reservations for those who need it Has it been implemented Does the mess have hygienic food Are hostels maintained well They see us with placards outside the administrative offices and know that we are fighting for them too They cannot ignore us despite opposing ideologiesHow has ABVP increased its vote bank thenWord about our agenda was spread in the mess through pamphlets this was our campaign which the ABVP mimicked However they failed at messaging given the number of people who voted for them People want security with the basicsmdashfood education and employment which is what we focussed onThey spoke about Pakistan being the enemy and the cultural significance of the Ram Mandir They continued the usual trope of polarisation on campus but it didnrsquot work because people here are academics and thinkers They are studied in their approach and tempered in reactionsmdashit might work for a few people but most academics see through thisAs a Dalit representative what are your concernsI understand more than others what Dalit students who enter these hallowed gates for education face but JNU as a whole is facing unprecedented cuts in funding that is critical to maintain our infrastructure AISA All India Studentsrsquo Association a left wing student organisation and SFI The Studentsrsquo Federation of India allege that funding for the library has been cut to R17 crore from R8 crore So it is no longer a Dalit issue If a crucial text book is not available for one student it is not available to anyoneRecently the admission process for the Masters programme was made so complicated that almost 50 per cent of tribal students could not appear for the entrance exams as those for different disciplines were held on the same day Similarly the number of female students has gone down from 515 per cent to 375 per cent in five years Antiwelfare decisions like the cancellation of the Maulana Azad Fellowship for Junior Research and for those who want to pursue courses under the University Grants Commission UGC also affect the number of Muslims present in academia The majoritarian powers do not want Muslims to have a presence in research or pursue a doctorateHas the ABVP been on the offensiveThey have been able to make some inroads but only with tactics such as assuring jobs or admission into doctorate programmes in exchange for votes But This will only take them from 10 votes to 100My mother does puja every day but she isnrsquot communal and this is what the AVBP doesnrsquot understandmdashthat there is difference between religious and communal The challenge will be to tackle the attack on us via policy and propaganda Films are being circulated that encourage violence against JNU students If a student is shot will the government do anything This is our big challenge The safety of JNU students is at risk