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Journalism of Courage
Even by Kerala8217;s formidable standards of agitational politics, the rampage by students owing allegiance to the youth and student wings of an assortment of Left parties is unprecedented in its levels of violence and disruption. The immediate cause of the agitation is the suicide of Rajani Anand, a Dalit computer engineering student at Adoor, who allegedly could not continue her studies because her request for an educational loan had been turned down by the bank authorities. The incident is certainly tragic but burning buses, gheraoing ministers and attacking bank officials cannot be an acceptable response to it. It calls for institutional corrections, not torched buses.
Indeed the present agitation 8212; that has forced the state government to close down educational institutions and bank staff to go on strike over their personal security 8212; looks set to take the state to the brink of anarchy. The situation reeks of ugly politics. Kerala8217;s Left Front, having tasted the heady delights of an almost comprehensive victory during the recent Lok Sabha elections, is obviously looking for ways to embarrass and isolate the Antony government even further. An agitation of this kind then proves handy for such a project, given its inflammatory nature and mass appeal among an influential section of Kerala society, the youth. But the Left parties must realise that they are playing a very dangerous game that could jeopardise not just the future of the young protagonists but that of the state itself. The state units of the CPM and CPI, as the two main constituents of the Left Front, must therefore step in forthwith, rein in their young supporters and put an end to the current madness. This is one class war that demands the return of the agitationists to the classroom.
