PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2004 ID-1965
.
~ .
All1Indio Students Association (AISA).
1\ 23.03.04.
f:;i Young India In The Line Of Fire : Reassert The Legacy Of Bhagat Singh And Paash .
Bhagat Sigh On 23 March 1931 , Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were martyred for .
their dream of an India free from colonial rule and social inJustice. With their death on colonial gallows, they inspired generations of Indian youth with the ideals of anti-imperialist .
nationalism, socialism and sacrifice. On this day 73 years later, those who rule our country are trying to sell out .
our freedom to imperialist forces and are trying to peddle communal hatred and obscurantism as nationalism. .
They are trying to replace the image of Shagat Singh with that of Savarkar as the hero of Indian youth Savarkar, the Hindutva ideologue who begged pardon from the British, and who preached hatred, violence and rape against non·Hindus, is being peddled as the role model for Indian youth. Young India today is the primary target of the kar seva', 'trishul diksha' and communal pogroms, as well as communal brainwashing.
fascist mobilisations like '.
in the classrooms. Consumerist ads woo young Indians with the mirage that 'India is Shining'. But Bhagat Si11gh's .
.
model of struggles and sacrifice needs no ad-campaign in order to shine through. Every time a Chandrashekhar .
.
from JNU, a Manju from a agrarian labour~rfamily in Jehanabad, or a Satyendra Dubey stake their lives for an .
ideal and a struggle, they infuse new energy in Young India's struggle to create a truly shining India of Bhagat .
.
Singh's dreams. .
Internationally, when the likes of Rachel Corrie of USA and Thomas Hundall from UK defy their own imperialist .
.
nations to defend Palestinian freedom, when young Israelis suffer imprisonment and yet refuse to serve in the .
Israeli occupation army, they renew the anti-imperialist legacy of Che Guevara and Bhagat Singh. .
Revolutionary poet Paash sacrificed his life at the hands of Khalistani terrorists. Yet today, activists of revolutionary .
struggles and people's movements are branded as 'terrorists'. Manju was killed in cold blood by the brutal goons .
of the feudal Ranveer Sena. Her killers continue to boast of their deed and brand her assertion against their .
patriarchal and fascist might as 'terrorism'. Twice, they have vandalised the memorial built for her by villagers. .
But the rural poor of Jehanabad have defiantly rebuilt the memorial every time, asserting that Manju lives on in .
their struggles for land, wages and dignity. .
The Outlook and other popular media tell us that 54% of India's population is below 25 years of age. The issue of .
Outlook which highlighted these facts carried a series of stories claiming to profile this age group. These stories .
.
created an image of youth whose ambitions were limited to their careers, whose concerns were thoroughly .
.
personal rather than social, who were consumerist but conservative, and who had nothing but ignorance and apathy for the burning issues of their country. One recalls the similar India Today story in the early '90s which , claiming that young students were too obsessed with careers.
proclaimed the 'end of the student movement'.
and consumerism to botherwith movements. Vigorous student upheavals against privatisation, and the powerful.
I s obituary for student idealism was,e fact that the corporate media'.
example of Chandrashekhar spoke for t~premature. Today, the examples of Satyendra Dubey, Sarita and Manju pose an equally eloquent challenge to that de.meaning portrayal of Indian youth. Their deaths force us to ask-is this the age of a 'resurgent' young India, full of hope and promise? Or is it an age which is witness to the massacre of the emerging youth leadership? In fact, not only youth role models, but the very aspirations of youth are being brutally crushed. Watching the Govt-sponsored ad-campaign, however, one only feels compelled to ask-if our country is indeed bursting with .
to slash job avenues and education funding?.
never-before prosperity, why is the Govt. 'having' The Government's choices -of giving massive tax breaks to subsidise the rich, while starving the education sector, of turning a blind eye to the black economy-is a clear indicator ofwhere students and youth stand in its.
t .
priorities. .
Several political trends-be it the compromising Congress or the communal RSS-have tried to destort history .
and appropriate Bhagat Singh's patriotism to further their sectarian agenda. But Bhagat Singh's life and vision, .
.
his ideas of Socialism and Secularism will render any such misappropriation impossible. .
.
This year, as we observe the Shahadat Saptah, AISA calls upon students to commit themselves anew to thes struggles to challenge the existing order and uphold the dream ofa truly democratic, egalitarian and secular India .
~df-Tan7.eel Ather,VP., AlSA,JNU Sd/-Awadbcsh. Jt.Secy., AlSA,JNU .
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA - 2004 ID-1965
.
~ .
All1Indio Students Association (AISA).
1\ 23.03.04.
f:;i Young India In The Line Of Fire : Reassert The Legacy Of Bhagat Singh And Paash .
Bhagat Sigh On 23 March 1931 , Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were martyred for .
their dream of an India free from colonial rule and social inJustice. With their death on colonial gallows, they inspired generations of Indian youth with the ideals of anti-imperialist .
nationalism, socialism and sacrifice. On this day 73 years later, those who rule our country are trying to sell out .
our freedom to imperialist forces and are trying to peddle communal hatred and obscurantism as nationalism. .
They are trying to replace the image of Shagat Singh with that of Savarkar as the hero of Indian youth Savarkar, the Hindutva ideologue who begged pardon from the British, and who preached hatred, violence and rape against non·Hindus, is being peddled as the role model for Indian youth. Young India today is the primary target of the kar seva', 'trishul diksha' and communal pogroms, as well as communal brainwashing.
fascist mobilisations like '.
in the classrooms. Consumerist ads woo young Indians with the mirage that 'India is Shining'. But Bhagat Si11gh's .
.
model of struggles and sacrifice needs no ad-campaign in order to shine through. Every time a Chandrashekhar .
.
from JNU, a Manju from a agrarian labour~rfamily in Jehanabad, or a Satyendra Dubey stake their lives for an .
ideal and a struggle, they infuse new energy in Young India's struggle to create a truly shining India of Bhagat .
.
Singh's dreams. .
Internationally, when the likes of Rachel Corrie of USA and Thomas Hundall from UK defy their own imperialist .
.
nations to defend Palestinian freedom, when young Israelis suffer imprisonment and yet refuse to serve in the .
Israeli occupation army, they renew the anti-imperialist legacy of Che Guevara and Bhagat Singh. .
Revolutionary poet Paash sacrificed his life at the hands of Khalistani terrorists. Yet today, activists of revolutionary .
struggles and people's movements are branded as 'terrorists'. Manju was killed in cold blood by the brutal goons .
of the feudal Ranveer Sena. Her killers continue to boast of their deed and brand her assertion against their .
patriarchal and fascist might as 'terrorism'. Twice, they have vandalised the memorial built for her by villagers. .
But the rural poor of Jehanabad have defiantly rebuilt the memorial every time, asserting that Manju lives on in .
their struggles for land, wages and dignity. .
The Outlook and other popular media tell us that 54% of India's population is below 25 years of age. The issue of .
Outlook which highlighted these facts carried a series of stories claiming to profile this age group. These stories .
.
created an image of youth whose ambitions were limited to their careers, whose concerns were thoroughly .
.
personal rather than social, who were consumerist but conservative, and who had nothing but ignorance and apathy for the burning issues of their country. One recalls the similar India Today story in the early '90s which , claiming that young students were too obsessed with careers.
proclaimed the 'end of the student movement'.
and consumerism to botherwith movements. Vigorous student upheavals against privatisation, and the powerful.
I s obituary for student idealism was,e fact that the corporate media'.
example of Chandrashekhar spoke for t~premature. Today, the examples of Satyendra Dubey, Sarita and Manju pose an equally eloquent challenge to that de.meaning portrayal of Indian youth. Their deaths force us to ask-is this the age of a 'resurgent' young India, full of hope and promise? Or is it an age which is witness to the massacre of the emerging youth leadership? In fact, not only youth role models, but the very aspirations of youth are being brutally crushed. Watching the Govt-sponsored ad-campaign, however, one only feels compelled to ask-if our country is indeed bursting with .
to slash job avenues and education funding?.
never-before prosperity, why is the Govt. 'having' The Government's choices -of giving massive tax breaks to subsidise the rich, while starving the education sector, of turning a blind eye to the black economy-is a clear indicator ofwhere students and youth stand in its.
t .
priorities. .
Several political trends-be it the compromising Congress or the communal RSS-have tried to destort history .
and appropriate Bhagat Singh's patriotism to further their sectarian agenda. But Bhagat Singh's life and vision, .
.
his ideas of Socialism and Secularism will render any such misappropriation impossible. .
.
This year, as we observe the Shahadat Saptah, AISA calls upon students to commit themselves anew to thes struggles to challenge the existing order and uphold the dream ofa truly democratic, egalitarian and secular India .
~df-Tan7.eel Ather,VP., AlSA,JNU Sd/-Awadbcsh. Jt.Secy., AlSA,JNU .
.