Progressive Democratic

Students’ Union (PDSU)

Programme
 World history is full of examples of how students have, from time to
time, come for the freedom of their country and against exploitation and
oppression. Virtually all great social upsurges in history are marked by the
active participation of students. Students have been clearly aware that their
education and future are linked with that of their country and their and
their social system, and in fact are determined by the latter.
In India, thousands of students left their homes and studies and threw
themselves into the anti-colonial struggles against the British. Our students
have supported and participated in struggles of workers, peasants and
common masses including the heroic Telanagana peasant armed struggle.
The great Naxalbari peasant armed struggle enthused a large number of
students who left their all to organize the peasants and other toiling sections
in revolutionary movements. Students have participated in mass movements
against price rise, against fare hikes and other general struggles of the people.
Besides fighting on the issues directly affecting them, students came out in
large numbers in agitations against corruption. Students have also been
the spearhead of the various movements of the Progressive Democratic
Students’ Union dedicate us to building a patriotic, progressive and
democratic student movement in India. We will also strive to link our
movement to the broader struggles of our people for genuine freedom,
democracy and well being
Our Education System: A Part of Our Social System
Students in India go through an education system which is not designed
to impart proper education to the vast masses of students. It is a dual system,
the relatively expensive education catering to a very small section of students
who come from the elite section of Indian society and can pay for their
education. The rulers of India are not bothered about the quality of education
available for the vast masses of students. Rather they aim to perpetuate
slavish mentality and back ward thinking among the students, so that their
policies should not be questioned.
Earlier, when the British ruled India, they had consciously established a
colonial education system. In it Indians were trained to be ‘babus’ or cogs
in the British Govt. machinery. The same was used to oppress and exploit
our country and people. Thus this education was designed to make the
students intellectual slaves of the values and culture of British rulers in the
interest of perpetuating British rule over India.
The education system has been one of the arenas of struggle between
the value system and culture promoted by the colonial masters and the
patriotic forces. On one side stood the colonialists and their Indian dalals,
the big capitalists and big landlords. On the other side were the patriotic
forces of India, who laid stress on the culture of the working masses- the
workers, the peasantry and the middle classes. The colonial education
promoted a value system which created aspirations for a better personal
life at all costs without bothering about the social good. It encouraged
subservience before authority, awe of the colonialists and ‘gratitude’ to them
for all the ‘benefits’ they were giving the country. This, while in reality they
enslaved our people, looted our rich natural and human resources and
exploited our masses.
The patriotic people propagated and fought for independence, for an
Indian society where the vast masses could live with dignity, have right to
education, to equality of opportunity, to employment, and would be
participants and decision makers in the development of their country, and
in its economic and scientific development.
Though the angry rising tides of the struggles of Indian people drove the
British out of India, power passed into the hands of the Indian ruling classes,
who continued the anti-people policies of the British. They were the wolves
in Indian skin. They perpetuated a system designed for the welfare of tiny
upper strata of society and based on the loot of the vast masses. Thus the
colonial education system was preserved intact with some cosmetic changes.
The patriotic pro-people forces were suppressed by brute force by these
new rulers as had been the case in British times. However, the struggles,
including that of progressive and democratic students have continued.
The hope of the vast masses that with the going of the British there
would be economic development for the people, jobs for all, education to
children according to their potential, all would get the fruits of labour- all
these came to naught. Irrespective of which govt. has been in power, the
ruling sections of India have served the interests of imperialist forces, not
the people. They have fed themselves on commissions from the imperialists
and allowed them to loot our country. Our science, economy, technology
has all been kept tied to theirs as their satellites, so as to advance their
interests and bolster their super profits.
In addition, the vast masses of the student community live in villages of
India, or are children of the urban working masses. The widespread poverty
in the country dooms the lives of so many children, who are forced to be
part of the work force of the household. Many others work in family farms.
Girls must stay at home do domestic chores and look after younger brothers
and sisters so that the mother can go to work.
The terrible poverty of Indian villages is due to semi-feudal land relations
and can only be changed by land reforms. This would allow economic
development by breaking the basis of stranglehold of feudal exploitation in
India. Without it, the students and the potential from a vast section of
India cannot be provided equal opportunity of education, or even, in mast
cases, access to any education at all.
Main Features of Our Education System
Thus our education system continues to be dual and unscientific and
captive of colonial values. While the progressive and democratic student
movement has been fighting for a scientific education policy and abolishing
of dual education system, the rulers are perpetuating their old system.
Rather than encouraging a materialist study of world history and Indian
history, or orienting students to tackle the needs of India for economic and
technological self sufficiency or for taking science to people, it encourages
servility for Imperialist literature, science, arts and techniques.
The medium of instruction is not the mother tongue, and English is the
medium of instruction in elitist institutions. Those who study in their mother
tongue are considered second rate and are looked down upon. Due to this
the real heritage of the vast masses of India lies neglected and the
contribution of the masses to India’s development cannot be taken. The
teaching of History is done in a distorted and communalized fashion. The
role of Congress in the anti-British movement is glorified and exaggerated
beyond proportion. The role of Hindu kings in Indian history is presented
in a distorted manner and thus does saffronization of education; all these
are being further exacerbated.
Dual Education Policy
The education system stands firmly based on a dual policy. There is a
separate, elitist, competitive education available for upper classes that can
pay for the same. The children of the vast masses go through an apology of
an education. For them there are no classrooms, no books, no libraries, no
blackboards and sometimes no teachers and no building even. This is true
of capital city itself, let alone any obscure corner of India.
The examination system is unscientific, based on cramming rather than
any assessment of knowledge, imagination and capability of a student.
Rather our education system suffocates the very traits of creativity and
scientific, rational outlook, which an education system should ideally nourish.
Research students and students pursuing higher education go through
stereotyped syllabi unsuited to the challenges faced by our people, which
make them mental slaves of an academic orientation towards the needs of
imperialism. Research students are exploitation which comes into the open
time and again through extreme steps like suicide of the victims.
Corruption and bribery, and sky rocketing fees ravage the education
system. This is especially so for studies in the elitist ‘public’ ravage school
and colleges. Capitation fee system is a bane of our system, and directly
allows students too completely and openly sideline merit if they are able to
pay huge sums of money. Student organizations catering to upper castes’
interests vociferously fight against caste based reservations as being anti-
merit especially in professional courses. But they turn a blind eye to the
‘management seats of capitation fee colleges where ‘money-based’
reservation is openly operating. The new education policy of 1986
institutionalized the dual policy further through the introduction of
‘Navodaya schools’ meant for the rural rich. This policy of two kinds of
education was offered a theoretical basis of a sensible deployment of scarce
funding. The budget allocated for education is a mere pittance and is being
further decreased. 90% of this budget actually goes to fund the payment of
salaries to teaching staff. Even infrastructural costs are now being left to be
met through high tuition fees extracted from students.
Education has no relation to employment Youth roam in the streets in
frustration after getting not just one, but several degrees. Job oriented
courses charge high fees. Every year sees a further rise in the number of
educated unemployed, and even professional and technical students face
job crisis. The Govt. does not use this trained force for building up the
economy, but seeks to dissipate it through various gimmicks like changing
schooling years, etc. but to little effect. Now it is simply pushing out the
bulk of students from mainstream educational opportunities to replace ‘good
quality’ education to those who can pay high fees. Hundreds of scientists
and other professionals are forced to migrate abroad to look for jobs. Medical
and drug research is tailored to multinationals’ interests and our laboratories
work as their appendages.
Impact of WTO
Under the new order imposed by WTO with the slogans of globalization,
privatization and liberalization, MNCization of third world economies is
being implemented. Under this world order, the govts. of the centre and
states have made ‘privatization’ their catchword since 1991 through the
‘New Economic Policies. In education, there is firstly an intensive drive to
privatize all higher education. All new courses being started in UGC affiliated
colleges and universities charge very high fees. Tuition fees are being raised
in colleges under one pretext or another. Entire universities are being set
up whose affiliated colleges are totally privately owned (e.g., Indraprastha
University in Delhi). In the field of scientific education, in the name of
making research ‘financially viable’, there is the great emphasis on ‘linking
science with industry ‘. MNCs are already acknowledged entities within the
campuses of professional colleges.
Secondly, there is an enormous emphasis from the World Bank downward
on ‘primary education’. The earlier stress of New Education Policy (1986)
was on ‘non-formal’ education. Now funds are being poured into the country
directly by the World Bank for the purpose of universalization of primary
education. Its ideological back up is being provided by economists blessed
with acknowledgments from imperialist sponsored institutions. The real
aim is to equip people with basic education required for them to be useful
to MNCs who are shifting their basic manufacturing processes to the third
world to avail of cheap labour power. A similar phenomenon occurred in
South-East Asian countries.
Thirdly, since SC/OBC reservations are not being extended to privatized
institutions, the whole concept of reservation in education for deprived castes
is coming to naught. Educational opportunities for common people (already
economically backward), especially the socially backward, is being further
minimized.
Fourthly, the section likely to be hit most hard by this privatization
drive is the girl students. Hardly any common family will be willing to pay a
‘double dowry’ for the daughter- first for her studies and then for her marriage.
Widespread propaganda enshrining superstitions, myths, and irrational
attitudes are being pushed through teaching material, through media and
English newspapers and through films. On the other band there is positive
promotion of decadent imperialist culture, their values, and their vulgar
practices.
Caste oppression is a scourge of Indian society and vast sections of our
people, who are mostly part of the peasant and working masses, remain
victims of severe social exploitation. A large mass of India’s student
community- or at least potential students -face this reality. Rulers in India
have kept all laws pertaining to land reforms-which could provide the base
to actually change the situation-firmly restricted to law books and
pronouncements. Some relief in the form of reservations for education at
various levels has been available to them. Even these are sought to be
squashed or subverted through local policies, through court cases, through
privatization and by free ploy of biases. All these, of course, are done in the
name of ‘merit’, ‘equality’, ‘social good’ and ‘national prestige and interest’.
Even when these students get admission, there is open display of casteism
by teachers, administrative bodies, and even co-students. These biases play
an important role especially in technical and professional courses. Even
hostels, class rooms, dining halls are pray to segregationist policies. Students,
themselves tend to segregate on caste lines as a result of this backward
environment in campuses.
Education and Girl Students
Women in India face severe exploitation and oppression. They are kept
devoid of education, freedom and even property rights. Within the family,
their education is considered to be of secondary importance. The percentage
of girl dropouts is high at all levels of education. Traditions, religious and
cultural practices contribute to their chains- all of which are being intensified
by the Hindutva drive mentioned earlier.
 Girl students in schools and colleges remain prey to gender harassment
both from goonda elements among students and even from teachers. The
promotion of imperialist culture has further abetted in deterioration of
their freedom and their susceptibility to such oppression. In colleges, the so
called student leaders enjoying official patronage contribute to their
harassment. Eve teasing in communities special targets of organized
goondaism along caste lines in many parts of India. However no section is
spared.
The education system does not instill girl students with confidence in
their own capabilities, nor encourage them to stand up for gender equality,
for freedom from exploitation or even against backward social practices.
Rather it teaches them the virtues of o submissiveness, of docility and of
accepting ritualistic chains. A small elitist section becomes worshipper of
imperialist culture and its victims too, as this culture promotes the use of
women as commodities. Thus the education system contributes to leaving
untapped the energies and creativity of half our population, besides trying
to maintain it as a reservoir of backwardness. It does not even equip women
students to fight even for their own safety within campuses.
It is an important aspect that the goondaism and hooliganism prevalint
in student organizations enjoying official patronage repels women students
from widely enrolling in student politics and fighting even against
hooliganism and eve teasing.
Revolutionary Change: A Must for a Pro-people, Scientific
Education System
Just as all just struggles of students for their democratic and progressive
demands face oppression of authorities and the state in the form of stay
orders, police cases, lathicharge, etc., state in the meted out to other sections
of struggling people too. Citizens belonging to religious minorities are
oppressed and suppressed, and are frequent victims of communal riots
especially state executed communal violence. The new wave of saffronization
is also targeting their special institutions of learning, and they are being
made to feel like second class citizens of the country. Communal outlook is
actively fanned by the state through state media, through ritualistic
practices, etc.
India is a multinational country, but people of several nationalities are
oppressed and repressed. Their language and culture are not allowed free
development; development of their literature is not encouraged; rather
imperialist culture is given all encouragement. Nationality struggles are
crushed under the boot of the military and even their democratic struggles
are given the label of anti-national movements. Actually it is the sum total
of all these cultures and languages that creates India’ rich diversity and its
cultural heritage.
Movements of people fighting for a separate state within India, like
Uttarakhand and Jharkhand have seen similar repression from the state.
Students of these areas have played significant roles in these struggles. Thus
it is abundantly clear that the education system -which actually denies right
to education to a vast majority -is a part and parcel of our anti people
social system. The ruling classes of India are maintaining this system and it
should be quite clear to us that a part cannot be corrected in essence without
correcting the whole. That is why the ‘changes’ and ‘revolutions’ in education
system brought about by various Govts. only reinforce the dual education
policy. This is true of Rajiv Gandhi’s ‘New’ Education Policy (1986) , of
BJP’s ‘Hinduization and nationalization’ of education, of the ‘charvaha’
schools set up by Laloo Govt. in Bihar in the name of ‘equal’ opportunities
while allowing elitist institutions to flourish in the state, and also of the
current ; globalization’ drive.
It is amply clear that in order to fight for a democratic, pro-people and
scientific education system; we will have to ally ourselves with the broader
fight for a pro-people social system. In this struggle, we and the vast Indian
masses are allies, because such an education system will depend on a
revolutionary reorganization of India. The Indian people must defeat
Imperialism, Feudalism and their servitors, i.e., they must complete the
task of New Democratic Revolution. Thus we must build a progressive,
democratic student movement in India, which is closely linked to the
struggles for a revolutionary change in India.
Other Student Organizations
If the vast masses of students are made conscious of their social role
and their strength, a powerful student movement will definitely question
the status quo with all its corruption, nepotism, injustice and exploitation
of the country and its people. All attempts are, there fore, made to deflect
the student movements into the blind streets of casteism and communalism,
pseudo-nationalism, etc. and also to rob them of democratic rights.
There are several all India student organizations, most of them
patronized by ruling class political parties. The ABVP and NSUI are open
centers of goondaism and money power, operate on state patronage, and
do not even attempt to build student movements of any democratic demands.
Students are organized in support of lumpen politics and rather the
democratic student movement is sought to be weakened. They openly defend
pro-imperialist policies and pseudo-nationalism NSUI is affiliated to the
Congress (1) with all its anti-people policies. ABVP’s patriotism is restricted
to a Hindu India and the saffronization and communalization of education
in the country (together with a tacit support to privatization and
commercialization of education).
The AISF and the SFI operate in the name of ‘left’, resorting to rhetoric
and slogans, and thus attempt to misuse the prestige in common people’s
minds for communist organizations and the ideology as such. In reality
they restrain and restrict student struggles to local issues or to sine reforms,
and do not build wide movements on progressive demands nor link the
struggle with general revolutionary movements in society. They are also
breeding grounds for goondaism especially in states where the political
parties linked to them are ruling, and there they are die hard maintainers
of status quo. Their anti-communalism is not linked to opposition to
imperialism. The AISA is the newest organization to jump into their
bandwagon. In toto, all these are a source of convincing students of the
viability of the current system albeit with some reforms. AISA also does not
mind using caste and communal division of their immediate gains. Their
energies are mostly directed at projecting themselves as better reformist
organizations then SFI and AISF.
In contrast PDSU clearly stands for building a democratic and
progressive movement of students in India. In the aftermath of the Armed
Peasant Uprising in Naxalbari, the revolutionary students in Andhra Pradesh
separated from the AISF and the SFI and dedicated themselves to the task
of building a genuine students’ movement. Taking birth in Osmania
University Campus, and seeing its leader Com. George Reddy brutally
martyred by RSS goons on the campus under the eyes of the police, the
founding conference of PDSU was held in 1974. Since then it has steadily
worked among student masses and has given several martyrdom in its
struggle to build the movement. PDSU has sought to combine the mass
struggles of the students on other demands with their mobilization for
revolutionary reorganization of society. PDSU has encouraged students to
go to villages and bustees and integrate themselves with the basic masses.
PDSU has waged a relentless struggle against reformism of all hues and
anarchism and has laid emphasis on building and functioning the student
organization on democratic lines. While building struggles on the immediate
problems, it has not succumbed to lasing sight of long term goals for the
immediate gains. PDSU has steadily spread to a number of states.
There are other revolutionary student organizations working in India.
Some of them like AIRSF underestimate the importance of organizing
student movements on students’ demands and adopt sectarian approach in
forging unity of the student masses in struggle. They do not take into account
the consciousness or preparedness of the student masses while giving their
calls. They do not build or function student organization on democratic
lines.
Organizations of students along nationality lines exist especially in those
areas where nationality struggles are facing brutal repression, e.g.,
organizations of Kashmiri students, North East student organizations etc.
They have played significant roles in organizing students for struggle in
their own states. In addition organizations of students along caste or
religious lines often arise spontaneously in institutions where caste
intimidation or communal attitudes exist. PSDU must encourage all such
organizations to align with the progressive student movement.
Recognizing that while it is necessary to fight on immediate demands of
students, to beat back fresh onslaught on educational opportunities under
WTO and on scientific attitudes under saffronization, real sustained change
is possible only with a revolutionary overthrow of the anti-people social
system, PDSU calls on students to join in to build struggles
1. To free India from the jaws of imperialism, feudalism and their
servitors.
2. For a pro-people, scientific and progressive education system.
3. Against dual education policy, for compulsory closure of elitist
schools and colleges and all education through state owned
institutions.
4. Against commercialization, privatization and communalization
of education.
5. Oppose communalization of history and for a materialistic study
of world history and Indian history.
6. For raising the education budget to a minimum of 10% and for
its proper utilization.
7. Free education for all and linkage of education with jobs.
Provide jobs for all.
8. Stop repression on democratic student movements. Stop attacks
on rights of common people, especially student masses.
9. Struggle against gender oppression and exploitation of women.
10. Against Caste oppression and division. Support to
reservation for weaker sections as a democratic demand.
11. For communal amity, and for rights to all nationalities. Fight
against communalism, especially majority communalism and
fundamentalism.
12. Against language oppression, and for right to education in mother
tongue.
13. Against superstitions, rituals, revivalism, and against cultural
degradation. Against aping of imperialist cultural and for
development of a progressive, pro-people culture.
We, the members of PDSU, vow to build struggles on the above demands
and to follow in the heroic footsteps of our martyrs and all martyrs of
democratic students’ struggles. For us society is primary, the individual is
secondary.
We vow to mobilize the students to struggle for their rights and to
integrate with the basic masses. It is clear that the above demands can be
achieved only through new democratic transformation of the society.
We pledge to join hands with all like minded forces and organizations
in pursuit of the above mentioned aims and objectives.

Progressive Democratic Students’ Union