On March 25, 2025, the CPM-led Kerala government finally passed the Kerala State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Bill, 2025. The bill paves the way for private universities to be set up in the state. This move essentially opens the gates of the education sector to private investments and aligns with the LDF government’s approach to other sectors as well.Except for the timing, nothing came as unexpected. The education sector is a crucial one for the government to privatize, both for private investments in that sector and for the deliverance of public funds to subsidize private investments in general. After all, the LDF government has to maintain/retain the top position (in 2022) for ‘ease of doing business’ on the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. CPM had to privatize the education sector; otherwise, how else would CPM woo Karan Adani for investments in the state, as they were attempting at the Invest Kerala Global Summit 2025?The bill and the defense that CPM has unceasingly put forward once again reveal the true colors of the social-democrats. Once staunch opposers of privatization, they now openly align with private capital. Obviously, the situation has become more complex for CPM (and its student-wing SFI) to cover up. R. Bindu (Kerala Minister for Higher Education & Social Justice), when asked during an interview with The Hindu whether the LDF has changed its stance on privatization, replied, “I don’t think there is a reversal. According to the present party program, CPM is allowing space for private capital. Already eighty percent of institutions in the higher education sector of the state are private. Only twenty percent of the institutions are under the management of the government. The eighty percent includes private-aided colleges and self-financing colleges.” One might wonder what that 20% was, over which CPM never tired of boasting! Definitely, and unsurprisingly, CPM and SFI are scratching their heads to formulate (illogical) arguments in favor of the bill.It is becoming increasingly evident that, in the era of neoliberalism, there is hardly any qualitative difference in the policies implemented by fascists, social democrats, and liberal parties. No surprise in this case: the UDF (the main opposition front in Kerala), with certain add-ons, fully supports the bill. Except for the intensity of implementation, all electoral political parties, including social democrats like CPM, CPI, and the fascist BJP, have a mutual agreement over neoliberal policies. Hence, a radical-militant student-youth movement organized along revolutionary lines for demands such as free and equal education for all, and permanent employment for all, can effectively resist neoliberal policies. Exposing such policies and parties among the masses has become equally imperative.Disha Students' Organization demands the rollback of the bill. Disha vehemently opposes the intervention of private capital and the commercialization of education.#dishastudentsorganization#students #cpim #cpimkerala #nep #nep2020 #privatization #disha ... See MoreSee Less
Stand in Solidarity with the Protesting Students of HCUCondemn the cowardly repression by Telangana Government against the fight for campus space and ecological preservation!Campuses are our space, not your possessions to sell off to capitalists! Students of Hyderabad Central University have been protesting against the auction of 400 acres of university land by the Telangana government, fighting for the right to the campus space and for the preservation of the local biodiversity. Today, hundreds of students gathered at East Campus to stop the JCBs that entered to clear the land. The Telangana Police displayed uncharacteristic efficiency and rushed to forcefully drag, injure, and detain dozens of students. The detained students were kept out of contact from the outside world with no knowledge of their whereabouts. Several female students were not only manhandled by police, but were also kept in police custody late into the night. On Saturday evening as well, a protest and effigy burning of the state government was held at the North Shopping Complex in HCU, and Telangana police unleashed violence and tried to confiscate the effigy. However, the students fought against it and carried on with the protest. These new levels of shameless repression by the Revanth Reddy government betray the reality behind his worn-out slogan of “Praja Palana” (“People’s Rule”).For weeks now, the students of HCU have been raising the demand to stop the auction and let the land remain as part of the university. This move by the Congress government is part of its larger narrative of “revenue generation” and “infrastructure development”. From insensitive remarks to spreading misinformation, the Congress government has tried every tactic to dismiss the movement. They have put their loyal and spineless student wing, NSUI, to the malicious task of derailing and diluting the movement. The movement highlights the anti-student and anti-people character of the so-called shopkeepers of love. Since coming to power, the Congress government has wreaked havoc in the lives of students and aspirants. It has carried out atrocities against the environment through the flashy and destructive Musi Riverbed project and the massive destruction of Damagundam forest. It has blatantly displayed its unwavering loyalty to the interests of capitalists, and has not made so much as a dent against the rise of fascist forces in the state. In fact, Congress’s incompetent and tyrannical rule has provided fodder to the fascist forces in spreading their rhetoric. But repression always breeds resistance. We stand in solidarity with the students of HCU, who are waging an uncompromising struggle against this profit-driven, anti-student, anti-environment attack. Their fight proves that the struggle for environmental preservation and campus democracy are invariably linked to the larger struggle against all exploitation and oppression in society. The repression unleashed by the state government only verifies this fact. Every time such just demands are raised, the panicked reaction by the rulers is testament to their real character, and who they are truly serving. The capitalist system and its loyal watchdogs will never work in the interests of the common students and masses. This fight can only be waged independently and militantly, without falling into the trap of electoralist parties and their student wings, because ultimately, none of them serve the people. We urge the justice-loving students and citizens to rise in solidarity with the students of HCU. Student unity long live!Inquilab Zindabad!#hcu #hyderabadcentraluniversity#UniversityOfHyderabad #telangana #RevanthReddy#Congress#CampusDemocracy#environment... See MoreSee Less
27 मार्च 2025 • पंजाब यूनिवर्सिटी, चण्डीगढ़ | इन्क़लाबी कवि अवतार सिंह पाश की स्मृति में आज पंजाब यूनिवर्सिटी के रोज़ गार्डन में कविता पाठ का कार्यक्रम आयोजित किया गया। इस दौरान प्रतिभागियों ने पाश द्वारा लिखी कविताओं — "सबसे ख़तरनाक", "तूफ़ानों ने कभी मात नहीं खायी", "सपने", "ज़िन्दगी/मौत" इत्यादि के अलावा अन्य रचनाकारों की कविताओं का भी पाठ किया। कुछ प्रतिभागियों ने स्वरचित कविताएँ भी पेश की।सबसे ख़तरनाक होता है मुर्दा शान्ति से भर जाना न होना तड़प का सब सहन कर जाना घर से निकलना काम पर और काम से लौटकर घर जाना सबसे ख़तरनाक होता है हमारे सपनों का मर जाना...— पाश #pu #chandigarh#paash#poetry... See MoreSee Less