Transcript Part II

The Gender Sensitization
Committee Against Sexual
Harassment
(GSCASH),
founded in 1996, has served as
the focal point for gender
politics on campus. Are the
struggles around GSCASH
adequate for building a
gender-just campus, some
ask. Recent occurrences on
the JNU campus have served
as a rude reminder about the
shortcomings of campus
gender relations, and have
sparked deep introspection
among students and teachers
alike.
2014
In a rather unusual gesture, the AISF seeks inspiration from Pakistan for the emancipation of
Indian women.
2013
Gender violence in areas controlled by the Indian Army – Kashmir and the Northeastern
states in particular – has been used as examples to expose patriarchal attitudes deemed to
be inherent in the Indian state and its ideological state institutions. In the process, gender
and nationality questions have been interwoven. Irom-Chanu Sharmila, a political activist
from Manipur, on fast since 2000 demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers
Act (AFSPA) in the Northeastern states, symbolizes the struggles of women against
oppression by the Indian state.
2011
While the SFI and the AISA highlight the oppression on nationalities within India without
taking a position in favor of secession, the DSU regards India as nothing but an
agglomeration of oppressed nationalities and supports all secessionist demands.
2011
Is the identification of an ‘enemy within’ essential for the triumph of nationalism, the
AISF seems to ask.
2014
A
vivid
cartographic
representation of Israel’s
hunger for what is regarded
as Palestinian territory.
Different Left groups the
world over have a history of
upholding the Palestinian
cause – the result of a
general opinion among
them in favor of selfdetermination
of
nationalities. The AISA’s
exhortation to the Indian
government to stand with
Palestine serves an implicit
reminder
about
the
complaints
of
the
‘oppressed’
Indian
nationalities.
2012
The JNU Forum Against War on People is a chapter of the Delhi Forum Against War on
People, launched to voice a concerted protest against paramilitary operations to curb Maoist
guerillas (titled Operation Green Hunt by the Indian state); it claims that operations have led
to widespread violations of human rights in the name of curbing Maoism.
2012
The Youth For
Equality (YFE)
on the other
hand has been
a
consistent
supporter of all
repressive
measures
against
Maoists, whom
they regard as
nothing
but
terrorists,
taken by the
Indian state.
2012
‘Naxalbari - the only way!’; the famous
slogan of the Maoist movement in
India adorns the entrance to the
Central Library – the sanctum
sanctorum of JNU. The Naxalite
movement in the 1960s and 70s
rebelled against existing structures of
‘bourgeois education’ . The DSU
regards JNU as an ideological state
apparatus of the Indian state that it
seeks to destroy, and reposes little
faith in the model of education that
JNU advocates.
2011
The ABVP has a
relatively
weak
presence on campus,
though they regularly
engae in debates with
the Left organizations.
Here it seeks to
dishonor Che Guevara,
the iconic figure of Leftrevolutionary politics.
2012
The ABVP promises to take care of the student issues rather than commenting more on
issues such as Palestine or Kashmir .
2014
ABVP also takes on the
Congress and the
NSUI. Although both
carry a distinct politics
of their own, derived
from the RSS/BJP and
the
Congress
respectively,
their
activities in JNU are
largely geared towards
critiquing
and
combating the Left
organizations. The Left
largely sets the terms
of political discourse
on campus within
which
limitsd
its
opponents tend to
remain.
2012
The NSUI, through its link
with the Indian National
Congress, lays claim to the
legacy of the Indian freedom
struggle and sets itself up as
the true defenders of the
nation against communalists
as well as communists. The
NSUI draws attention to
instances of alliance between
the Left and the Hindu Right
at various points in Indian
history, to make a case for a
‘Communist-Communal
alliance’ against the Indian
nation.
2013
Despite Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s suggestion that the Indian National Congress
should be dissolved after independence, he remains the iconic figure of the secular,
democratic nation-state that the NSUI seeks to uphold.
2014
‘India First’ is an enigmatic group that has emerged of late. It does not contest elections and
is not affiliated to any political party. The celebration of ‘Indianness’ is intended as a riposte
to the ‘unpatriotic’ Left.
2014
The Lyngdoh Committee Recommendations (LCR) have imposed several restrictions on the
political culture of JNU of late. As its impact is gradually becoming evident, many fear for the
progressive, democratic tradition of JNU politics. The fight to shake off the LCR in JNU and
beyond continues, even as detractors ask whether it may be a wall too high for JNU to vault
over.
2014
THANK YOU!!
Hope you enjoyed the exhibition!
This exhibition has been conceptualized and curated by Akash
Bhattacharya, Ph.D. student, Centre for Historical Studies,
with photographic inputs from Rachna Mehra (Ph.D., JNU)
and Devayani Prasad (Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan). The
P.C. Joshi Archives on Contemporary History welcomes visual
and narrative documentaries of the aesthetic and politics of
JNU murals of previous years.