CPI for new culture of student politics

KOCHI: CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran has disapproved the ongoing agitation by SFI in the textbook issue marked by street fighting with police.

Speaking after inaugurating the delegate’s session of the AISF here on Sunday, the CPI leader said the protest against the non-delivery of textbooks should not be conducted by indulging in a confrontation with the police. The CPI leader, however, did not mention SFI by name.

Stressing the need for evolving a new culture of student politics in the state, Kanam also spoke against violence on campuses.

“I don’t want to name anybody but student organisations themselves are responsible for converting the campuses in the state into dumping ground for arms,” he said. Politics on campuses should be marked by the culture of healthy debates and discourses, he said.

Kanam called for a change in the mode of agitation in accordance with changes that had taken place in the society. The student organisations should strive for new and innovative ways of agitation, he said.

The CPI leader also criticised attempts to ban politics from campuses in the state. Banishing politics would only help communal forces to gain an entry into campuses, he said.

The comments by the CPI leader came in the background of AISF making scathing criticism against SFI in its organisational report.

The report stated that the style of functioning of SFI is creating an aversion about student organisations in the society.

The report said that even AISF was not allowed to function on campuses in which SFI enjoys full control. It mentioned several instances of SFI cadres unleashing physical attacks against AISF activists in Alappuzha, Thrissur, Ernakulam and several other places.