Lucknow: The ‘Occupy UGC’ Express under way as part of the ‘Save Education, Save the Country’ campaign, made its way from Aligarh, Banaras and Allahabad and reached Lucknow on 19 November 2015. Arriving on the Express, former JNUSU President Ashutosh Kumar spoke with students of Lucknow University and BBAU and appealed to them to participate in this agitation. Speaking at the press conference organized in the afternoon at the Lenin Book Centre, Lalkuan, Ashutosh Kumar gave details of the Occupy UGC agitation being carried on since 21 October 2015 in protest against the ending of Non-NET fellowships. He called upon students to join the ‘Dilli Chalo’ agitation called by AISA to oppose these policies on 8 and 9 December 2015, for whose success AISA and JNUSU are campaigning in different universities of the country.
Rajasthan & Gujarat: Comrades Anant (former JNUSU Vice President), Mohit and Sandeep Shivam reached Central university of Rajasthan as part of the #OccupyUGC express and the national campaign against fund cut and WTO, after having taken the campaign to universities in Hyderabad (HCU, MANUU, EFLU and Osmania). A meeting had been scheduled in the university in this context. However, the ABVP once again along with the support of the university administration obstructed the meeting and the campaign and farcical reason offered for withdrawing permission for scheduled meeting was that “it was a different territory”. When the AISA activists along with university students started distributing the campaign leaflets, the administration once again obstructed from them doing so and threatened the local students, who had expressed solidarity with the movement, with dire consequences. However, undeterred by such obstructions, the activists tried to meet maximum number of students, distribute the pamphlets and invite them for the massive anti-WTO agitation on 8 and 9 December 2015.
The activists as a part of the #OccupyUGC express than visited Gujarat where several programmes such as street plays were organized and the campaign was met with a tremendous support from the students of Gandhi Vidyapith and Central university of Gujarat. They also visited Mahatma Gandhi Hindi University in Wardha (Maharashtra).
Bihar: AISA activists in Bihar were joined AISA national president and former JNUSU general Secretary, Com. Sandeep Saurav to take the #Occupy UGC and anti-WTO campaign in various colleges and universities in Bihar. During the visit, several conventions, public meeting and student contact programmes were organized in Darbhanga, Bihta, Naubatpur (Patna district), Veer Kunwar Singh University (Ara), Central University of Bihar, Gaya and several other colleges on the issue of fund-cuts in education and the dangers of making higher education a tradeable service following WTO dictates. Com. Ajit Kushwaha also led several teams to other parts of Bihar.
Diphu: On 27 November, AISA national president, Com. Sucheta De met with students in Diphu and also addressed the local media about the ongoing fight against committing higher education to WTO. She was joined by comrades from Karbi Students Association. Com. Sucheta is currently in Mansa (Punjab) for the campaign.
The campaign will intensify in days to come and activists will visit several other states and institutes to mobilize students against the assaults on higher education!
