When Students Engaged in Politics and Weren’t Called Anti-National

Student organisations around the world have done a lot more than shout slogans without being called ‘anti-national’.

Jawharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) President Kanhaiya Kumar (Photo: The Quint)

Students have done a lot more than shout slogans and in most democracies, they tend not to get arrested for sedition. Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khaled and other students from Jawaharlal Nehru University are communists, albeit of very different hues.

Also Read: The Many Shades of Red: Kanhaiya Kumar, Communism and Free Speech

Kanhaiya and Umar are currently in custody for raising allegedly ‘anti-national’ slogans. But around the world, there have been radical student groups that have done a lot more than that.

So how do other democracies treat radical student organisations and politics?

1. Anarchy in the UK

Demonstrators stand on an underground sign during a protest in Westminster in central London on 9 December 2010 (Photo: Reuters)

Student Action: In 2010, protests erupted all over the United Kingdom over the Conservative Party-led coalition government’s decision to cut funding to the higher education sector. The protesters took over central London and about 200 students, mostly from radical anarchist groups raised slogans against the government and occupied the Conservative Party headquarters.

Response: Only those that engaged in violence were arrested. Currently, almost every major university in the United Kingdom has at least one anarchist student group, and they seem to function without fear of persecution or imprisonment.

Here’s how the Anarchist Students Society at the prestigious University of Sussex describe themselves.

We host weekly discussions focusing on the struggles of the oppressed and dispossessed for liberation. Amongst those fighting for freedom are indigenous people, people of colour, women, workers, prisoners, queers. We respect and support all their struggles equally, along with many more we have left unmentioned. 

2. Communists in the USA

CPUSA logo. (Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

Yes, there was Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for Communists. But even today, the Communist Party of USA (CPUSA) survives, and while its youth wing was merged with the main party in January 2016, the CPUSA continues to work in leading universities in the country, from Columbia University to the University of Chicago. No charges of sedition seem to abound against them, even though they believe in overthrowing America’s capitalist institutions.

3. Chile’s Anti-State Rockstars

Students shout slogans as they take part during a demonstration to demand changes in the education system in Santiago, Chile (Photo: Reuters)

Student Action: Among the Latin American countries, Chile was considered stable. In 2011 though, a large number of students, including those belonging to Left and anarchist groups took to the streets demanding an overhaul of the education system and free and universal education. Their protest was against the government of the day, and the economic system it represented.

Result: By 2013, some of the leaders of the movement, including those belonging to the Communist Youth Party were contesting elections, not rotting in prison for ‘anti-national’ activities. In 2014, some of the students went on a speaking tour throughout the USA to talk about how to “organise and spread communism”. Here is one of the videos that was put out to publicise the tour.

4. In Paris, May ’68 Party Continues Today

May 1968. (Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

Student Action: In France, even today, May 1968 resonates. Along with the anti-Vietnam war protests in the USA, it is almost synonymous with the idea of student activism. In May 1968, students in Paris began protesting and striking against Charles De Gaulle’s government and the police after the University of Paris was shut down. They were soon joined by workers, teachers and other civilians. At one point, over 22% of the population was protesting.

Result: Some students and activists were arrested at the time, particularly for violent actions. Many, like Daniel Cohn-Bendit, became mainstream politicians. The National Students Union of France (UNEF), which was at the forefront of the movement continues to have leftist leanings and is still the largest student union in the country.