Utter failure of the student organizations’ leaders and central bodies to stop strings of such incidents has worsened the situation.[break]
Central bodies of student wings of the two major political parties – Nepali Congress, and CPN-UML – are virtually dysfunctional and the mother parties have stepped in into their respective student wings. Still, the situation hasn’t improved. Though disputes within the ruling UCPN (Maoist) Party’s student wing have lately been relatively subsided after the dissident group within the organization split last year to form a new party led by Mohan Baidya, the story of Maoist students is not rosy, either.
Finding that the existing central committee of its student wing, the All Nepal Free Student Union (ANNFSU), is no more functioning, CPN-UML earlier this month dissolved the union’s central committee and decided to form an organizing committee with a mandate to convene a general convention to elect the student organization’s new leadership.
Even weeks after the mother party’s decision, ANNFSU has been unable to form the organizing committee because there of a dispute as to who should lead the organizing body.
So is the case with Nepali Congress’s wing, Nepal Student Union (NSU). As the NSU’s popularly elected central committee led by Pradeep Paudel couldn’t run the organization, the NC dissolved the Paudel-led central committee in April 2011 but couldn’t form another body to replace it. After months of factional bickering, the NC last year formed an ad hoc committee with a mandate to hold a general convention and to hand over the mantle to the newly elected body within six months. The NSU had earlier announced to convene its convention in January. The union, however, failed to convene it. Moreover, it has not been able to announce a new date so far.
Photos: Dipesh Shrestha
Nepali Congress affiliated Nepal Student Union members take part in the Whistle Rally at Ratnapark in Kathmandu on Sunday, January 27, 2013. They were demanding justice for the murder of journalist Dekendra Thapa.
Though leaders from the principal parties complain about the declining image of student organizations in recent years, its leaders and the respective party’s youth leaders closely familiar with student affairs attribute to key leaders of the respective parties for the worsening situation. They say the student leaders have just been following the activities the key leaders in political parties carry out, such as unhealthy factional feuds, tendency of accumulating wealth by any means, promoting “groupism” for personal gains and group interests. Many leaders confirmed that each faction within the students’ organizations is backed by at least one key leader from the mother party.
After a series of incidents of infightings within ANNFSU members, student leaders’ involvement in financial embezzlements and repeated physical attacks and the ANNFSU’s central leadership’s failure to settle the internal problems, the mother party – UML – stepped into the student organization’s disputes. A few months ago, the party formed a probe committee headed by Party Secretary Yubaraj Gyawali to investigate into an attack allegedly led by ANNFSU secretariat member Ain Mahar on UML leaders during a function of the same party at the Law Campus in Pradarshani Marg in Kathmandu. As the team explored the problems in the student wing, they realized the need of addressing the Union’s issue in a broader approach. The team recommended the party to dissolve the existing central committee of the student wing and form an organizing body to hold a general convention, obviously after finding no prospect of improving the existing body.
Declining reputation
Political party leaders, mainly those who led the student organizations in the past, worry about the diminishing image of the organizations while student unions were dynamic, influential and trendsetter organizations until a few years back.
Student organizations were the most important political fronts before 1990 because their mother organizations – the political parties – were banned during the non-party autocratic Panchayat system. Student leaders were the ones who used to be the public faces of the mother parties because students were allowed to carry out their activities within university or college areas. While political parties were compelled to carry out their activities underground, student organizations raised political, social as well as educational agendas in public.
Until 1990, leaders like even Madan Bhandari of the then CPN-ML were not popular in the public while the then student leaders such as Tanka Karki, Bhim Rawal and Ghanshyam Bhusal used to be the party’s public faces. They would promptly take up the current social and political issues with a view to expose the then ruling class.
Historically, student organizations have always remained ahead of their mother parties in setting political as well as social agendas. During the popular 1979 movement and the 1980s referendum on multi-party democracy versus Panchayat system, student organizations had played leading roles in setting political agendas to create a nationwide wave in favor of multi-party democratic system and expose the erstwhile autocratic monarchial regime. In 1990, student leaders were the backbone of the political parties in the fight against the Panchayat system.
In October 2004, the then King Gyanendra Shah sacked the erstwhile Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government and formed a new government with handpicked prime minister and ministers.
The mainstream political parties such as NC and UML at first adopted a wait and see approach instead of promptly reacting to the king’s move and later said that “the move took them by surprise.” The erstwhile rebel Maoist party at the time was adopting a strategy of using India against the monarchy and vice versa, depending on the party’s tactical moves. However, student organizations moving one step ahead of their mother parties strongly protested against the king’s move.
ANNFSU, NSU and other student organizations strongly raised the issue of establishing a republican system even at a time when King Gyanendra took over power and imposed his direct rule on the country. The movement heralded by student organizations created a strong ground for the abolition of monarchy and the establishment of republican setup in the country even as their mother parties had warned the student leaders not to go beyond their respective party’s official position. With civil society and people from various walks of life supporting the agenda, political parties such as NC and UML officially decided to go for republicanism.
The protest against the then royal member Paras Shah is one of the most famous campaigns launched by student organizations in recent years. In 2000, the student wing of CPN-ML launched massive protest against Paras who had allegedly killed popular musician Praveen Gurung. The ANNFSU demanded that Paras be stripped of the title of “Prince” even as protesting against a royal member at the time was a daring move. But the student protest gained a popular support from the public, so much so that the erstwhile Royal Palace had to write to the government to probe into the matter and suggest what should be done to address the matter.
“The royal palace sent a copy of the letter to me showing readiness to take action in this connection as per the recommendation of the government,” said the then ANNFSU Chairman Ravindra Adhikari.
But in the recent couple of years, the same student organizations have utterly failed in creating any social, political or educational movements in the country.
Student protests in recent days are staged for such trivial issues that they only damage the student organizations’ reputation instead of securing public support.
Recently, local youths affiliated to NC and UML staged separate protests and disrupted vehicular movement along the highways against police in Dang and Nawalparasi districts for arresting members of their organizations for not abiding by traffic rules such as wearing helmets.
Roots of anarchy
Student leaders attribute to various reasons as causes of anarchy in the youth organizations. But all agree at least on one argument that respective mother parties are mainly responsible in promoting anarchical activities in their student and youth wings.
Various leaders said that lately even popularly elected student leaders have failed to run the organizations. “Mushrooming factions within student organizations are promoted and protected by key leaders from mother parties,” said Pradeep Paudel. “Student members promptly challenge the organization’s decisions because they are protected by key leaders in the party.”
Jumbo committees
Paudel was elected NSU president at its general convention, securing nearly double the votes his competitor managed to attract. But Paudel couldn’t run the organization and resigned from the post without electing new leadership. Why did he fail? “Leaders decided to reunify the two Congress parties. They settled the issues within the mother parties but didn’t care about the problems stemmed while reunifying two student wings,” said Paudel.
After reunification, the student committees were transformed into simply unmanageable bodies in the name of accommodating all factions.
“In my central committee, there were 10 vice-presidents, four general secretaries and 18 assistant general secretaries,” he said. “How can such a jumbo committee be decisive and functioning?” He admitted that the central body’s ineffectiveness is one of reasons to promote impunity, anarchy and corruption in the organization.
According to him, key leaders in the mother party want to maintain their command at least in one student faction so that they can mobilize such student groups to achieve his/her political ambition. “Party leaders want to promote factional feuds within student organizations so that they could mobilize students for their interests,” he added. He said there are at least 10 factional groups within NSU, and each one is backed by senior NC leaders.
The recently dissolved Central Committee of the ANNFSU had 354 members. It had a 53-member secretariat and 11-member office bearers.
ANNFSU Chairman Madhav Dhungel said the number of members increased unnaturally in the name of settling internal differences and accommodating all sides.
Dhungel also conceded that they have failed to launch effective protests on issues of public concerns such as price hike as “we’ve been entangled in internal disputes.”
Similar is the story in the Maoist-affiliated student wing All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary as well. Failing to nominate a consensus student leader to head the student organization, the UCPN (Maoist) party handpicked Himal Sharma, even as he is not a student. The party was compelled to nominate him so he can be acceptable to all the factions within the party even though there is a generational gap between college students and Sharma, whose son is a student of Bachelor’s degree in China.
As all the student organizations have been paralyzed by their internal feuds, they have not only deferred their own conventions but also the Free Student Union’s elections in colleges and universities for indefinite period.
“The tendency of working to serve individual leaders’ interests and factional gains has prevailed while organizations have been weakened,” said Dhungel. He added the situation may worsen if a serious plan isn’t worked out to guide student organizations in the right direction.
Q & A
Former Vice-Chancellor of Tribhuvan University, Dr Kedar Bhakta Mathema
Student organizations seem to be embroiled in serious internal problems, such as anarchy, hooliganism and financial embezzlements in recent times. How do you analyze it?
This is a serious problem seen in student unions in recent years. There are several student organizations within universities. They compete in populist agendas and that makes authorities to implement reform programs. Therefore, student wings of political parties should be kept outside universities and colleges.
Do you think it’s worsening in comparison to the past?
Definitely it is. Student organizations are mushrooming in recent years. Student politics has become problematic mainly because the unions are directly affiliated to political parties and work for partisan interests. Student organizations should be active within universities and colleges. They should be encouraged for championing student causes. But the reality is different because they work as sister wings of political parties.
What do you think are the possible reasons behind rampant irregularities in the student unions?
Political parties have remained dependent on their student wings ever since they were banned prior to the restoration of democracy in 1990. The parties’ dependency on their student wings even to hold programs outside universities increased the student unions’ influence as well as highhandedness within and outside academic institutions.
What are the major worrying factors seen in student unions?
Repeated incidents of hooliganism, infighting, carrying weapons inside academic institutions, constant student unrests and political meddling are the major reasons that have seriously ailed institutions like Tribhuvan University.
What should be done to improve the situation?
There should be activism of student unions in universities. No one should reject it. It should be further encouraged, but for educational causes. There are hundreds of issues that student leaders can raise for the betterment of universities, colleges and other educational institutions. Sadly, student leaders don’t raise issues directly concerning students. Student organizations should be involved in political issues but their involvement in political activities should be outside the academic institutions. For betterment, there should be only one student council in a university, and the umbrella body should focus all its activities on educational issues. Political parties must agree to keep their politically affiliated student wings outside the universities. They should operate outside academic institutions when it is guided by a particular political party.
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