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1 Student and Youth Movement Retrospect and Prospects I Youth and students are multi-class categories, chiefly defined, the former by age and the latter by their participation in education. Though there are universally accepted definitions on categorising a person as a 'student', surprisingly there seems to be no agreement on defining who constitutes 'youth'. UNESCO defines youth as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood s independence and awareness of our interdependence as members of a community. Youth is a more fluid category than a fixed age-group. However, age is the easiest way to define this group, particularly in relation to education and employment. Therefore 'youth' is often indicated as a person between the age where he/she may leave compulsory education, and the age at which he/she finds his/her first employment. This latter age limit has been increasing, as higher levels of unemployment and the cost of setting up an independent household puts many young people into a prolonged period of dependency. 1 In order to clear some of the confusion that this definition of 'youth' creates and help in maintaining a database, the UNESCO decided to use the definition of the UN which, defines youth, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, without prejudice to other definitions by Member States 2. The rider, 'without prejudice to other definitions of Member States', was needed because several countries have several age groups to categorise youth. For instance, the National Youth Policy 2012, of our country aims to cover the age-bracket of years 3. Interestingly, even the youth organisations in our country, varied as their political-ideological moorings are, do not have any consensus on what defines and who qualifies to be a youth 4. This apart, there are two unique features that need to be considered in any discussion on the youth/student movement in our country. First, unlike many other countries of the world, India does not have a single organisation for both the students and youth. This is true for almost all the political parties in our country, who have their own mass organisations catering to both the students and youth separately. In many of the countries, specifically in the West there is a single 'youth' organisation. In fact, these organisations have separate sub-committees to address the concerns of the students. The second unique feature is, in most of the countries, youth organisations are an adjunct of political parties. For example, the communist parties have their own 'Young Communist Leagues'. Similarly other parties, be they conservative in ideology or social-democrats, have their own 1. Taken from: 2 Ibid 3. The National Youth Policy (NYP), 2012 document put up for discussion at langid=1&linkid=47, Point 4.1.1, Page 5. In fact the document further states that the government is changing the age group from what was defined in the National Youth Policy 2003, as the age group of The NYP 2012 further introduces sub-categories into the definition: The first sub-group of years also covers adolescents whose needs and areas of concern are substantially different from youth under the other age-groups. The second sub-group of years includes those youth who are in the process of completing their education and getting into a career. The third subgroup of years comprises of young women and men most of whom have completed their education, including professional, and are, more or less, settled in their job and in their personal life. 4 For instance the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) defines youth as anybody between the age of 18 and 35 years. See The All India Youth Federation (AIYF), any person in the age group of 15 to 35. See And for the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), all young people between the age group of years. See An interesting comparison may be made from that of the Andhra Pradesh youth organisations constitution in 1938, which stated only those who are between should be enrolled as members of the youth organisation. (Until then 35 years used to be the limit for becoming a member of the youth organisation, it was reduced to 25) (Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 2, Y.V. Krishna Rao et al Vishalandhra Publishing House, November 1988, Page )

2 organisations for the youth. In India, except for two youth organisations, no other major youth organisation claims openly to be a youth wing of the parent political party. 5 Historically, the communists and the socialists in our country, who played an important role in the formation of various mass and class organisations during our freedom struggle, always wanted them to retain their broad character. In a resolution adopted by the Andhra Unit of the Congress Socialist Party, they self-critically reviewed the work of youth organisations and admitted: due to the sectarian attitude of the socialists which is reflected in the functioning of the youth organisations, the moderates in Congress are looking at them with scepticism. Not only that, as the youth organisations are run as socialist party, they are not developing as much as they should 6. In fact, P. Sundarayya specifically argued, when there was a discussion in Navasakti (1938) about the character of the youth organisations, that they should not be run as communist leagues but retain their multi-class character 7. They did not want separate organisations on the basis of political affiliations, but wanted a single organisation for the various strata of the society 8. In order to understand the present situation where there are so many organisations for both the students and youth in our country, we need to trace their evolution and the ideological differences that had cropped up, which eventually led to their split 9. II Students and youth, as had been mentioned earlier, are multi-class categories. So naturally, their reaction to various issues and their participation in the movements depends upon the way their class perceives things and reacts to them. The student and youth movements reflected the broad anticolonial character of the freedom struggle and involved students and youth from almost all the classes. This 'broad' character evolved over a course of time. Initially, petitions were submitted and reports were written in newspapers requesting the British to consider their grievances. Particularly interesting is the report published in Loka Ranjani, November Noteworthy is, it raises the demand for universal primary education, much 5 The IYC explicitly states in its Constitution that aspiring members should not be part of any other political organization, or must relinquish their membership in any other political organization. For AIYF and DYFI 'any person who accepts their aims and objectives', can become a member. See their respective websites at and 6 Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 2, Y.V. Krishna Rao et al Vishalandhra Publishing House, November 1988, Page Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 2, Y.V. Krishna Rao et al Vishalandhra Publishing House, November, 1988, Page EMS Namboodripad, former General Secretary of the CPI(M) in an article on 'Student Organisation before and after 1936', published in a Souvenir brought by the SFI, Andhra Pradesh Committee, when it organised the 6 th All India Conference of SFI in Vijayawada in 1986, wrote: They (AISF) were guided in this by the concept of antiimperialist united front, with the Indian National Congress being the organisational form of anti-imperialist unity. The trade unions of workers, the kisan sabhas and such other mass organisations including those of the students were to be collectively affiliated to the Indian National Congress. 9 EMS in the same article quoted above states: From that moment on (1942, when the call for Quit India was given during the World War II), the character of all mass organisations including the Student Federation underwent a fundamental change: instead of uniting members committed to different ideologies and having allegiance to different political parties, having them all in one democratically-functioning organisation, the Student Federation like the Trade Unions, Kisan Sabhas, etc, came ot be politically divided. Many who had earlier helped the formaton of the united organisations including the Student Federation took the initiative in organising such rival organisations as the Students' Congress, the Muslim Students' Federation and so on. In the case of other mass organisations too 'national', 'Muslim' and other names were given to new organisations set up in place of earlier united organisations. This has become so widespread that it is unthinkable today for the activists of any political party that they should function as a party without its 'own' trade union, peasant and other mass organisations including students'. A common organisation open to members committed to different ideologies and owing allegiance to different political parties has become unimaginable. 10 In every town and in every village there are to be seen numbers of poor lads wandering about in the streets

3 earlier than Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who was considered to be the first Indian nationalist leader to raise such a demand. Some of the reasoning in the report, appears quite contemporary:...it is our opinion that 'higher' education should be made self-supporting by rendering it dearer than what it is at present; and that the money that will thus be saved should be spent in educating the populace the hinge on which the door of Government rests and turns 11. Let me give you another quote: Given the magnitude of the tasks involved, the government will not be able to undertake all the interventions required to strengthen education in the state on its own. It will, therefore, need to actively encourage private investors to partner its effort, particularly in strengthening higher education...in general, higher education institutions will have to become more selffinancing 12. These two quotes are separated only by 125 years the first, during the evolutionary stage of the bourgeoisie and the second, when it is entrenched in power! There is another similarly regressive attitude, that we find even today. Petitions were submitted to the British not to allow missionary schools to be constructed in Hindu localities as untouchables would walk in those streets that were restricted for their usage 13 - an insistence for caste discrimination. Even after the passage of just 196 years, four short of two centuries, we still find caste discrimination prevailing in our educational institutes. These are some of the statements made by the 'educated' sections of the society of those times. A knowledge of their attitudes only helps us to understand the evolution of the student and youth movement as it began to get broader with every passing day. An effort to organise the students and youth in the real sense of the term began during the Swaraj/Vandemataram movement. These efforts attained pace particularly during Bipin Chandra Pal's Andhra tour in Organisations like the Bala Bharata Samithi 14, whose objective was the promotion of Swadeshi and Swarajya Samithi 15 were formed in Rajamundry and Machilipatnam respectively. The impact of Bipin Chandra Pal's tour on students and youth was immense. They took out processions shouting slogans of 'Swaraj' and 'Vandemataram'. They wore badges of 'Vandemataram' and attended schools and colleges. The incident in Rajamundry where students of the Government Arts College were suspended by Principal Mark Hunter is the most notable. Several students rusticated by Hunter took part in the propaganda work of Swadeshi and Swaraj in Gunneswara Rao of Rajamundry took steps to organise a band of volunteers partly for rendering social service and partly for carrying on propaganda during the Godavari Pushkaram in August 16. In an article contributed to the jubilee issue of the Krishna Patrika, Rayaprolu Subba Rao states that one apparently without any employment. It is quite certain that their parents are not able to afford the means for their education, and in such cases it is one of the duties of the Government to look after them...we would, therefore, suggest that schools, with the proper standard of education, should be set on foot at every centre of the native population on strictly charitable principles, and the education should then be made compulsory to a certain extent. Quoted from the Loka Ranjani, M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 1, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1965, Document No 63, Page M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 1, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1965, Document No 63, Page Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020, Government of Andhra Pradesh, January, 1999, Page A petition submitted by Madras citizens, 30 th September 1817, quoted in M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 1, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1965, Document No 3, Page 113. It states If the church is built in our street, people of this class (Pariahs, the lowest class) will have the necessity of attending in the Church and expose us to several inconveniences. 14 M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 2, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1969, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page 48. A CID report on the National Volunteers in Rajamundry quoted in the same book states: This is what Bengalees did during the last Ardhodayam festival near the Ganges. The ostensible object of this band will be to preach Swadeshism and enlist the sympathy of the pilgrims for the national cause. Document No 61, Page 298.

4 Dantu Subbavadhani returned from Calcutta, where he went to pursue his medical studies, with some pistols and distributed them among some young men 17. This in a way also explains the panicky reaction of the British when the people of Kakinada, incensed by the action of Captain Kemp who beat a sixteen-year old boy, attacked the European Club with stones and injured even the Collector who had rushed to the spot 18. It was also documented that some of the school monitors of various classes received pamphlets in English that were posted from London and Madras. Interestingly one such pamphlet talked about the Russian Revolutionary Organisation 19. Apart from these incidents showcasing the active involvement of students and youth in the freedom struggle, there were also reports, which show their role in demanding a separate state for the Telugus. A Young Men's Literary Association of Guntur was formed in 1913 to discuss about the Andhra movement 20. This movement had attracted the attention of many sections of the people and continued to remain in their conscience for many years. The youth movement repeatedly raised it in their meetings and conferences and at times also expressed its unhappiness over the attitude of the Congress leaders, whom they felt were not doing enough to realise this demand. The student and youth movement reached a crescendo when the Home Rule Movement was announced. To counter the movement, the Madras government resorted to various measures of repression. It issued the notorious circular prohibiting students from attending public meetings of a political character and threatened to withdraw recognition and aid from those institutions whose authorities were slack in enforcing the circular...the circular, however, was not effective. The principals of almost all colleges found it difficult to enforce it...student activity came on the whole to be on the increase 21. The movement reached its pinnacle when Annie Beasant was arrested. The first state student conference was held in but most of its recorded activities were, submitting memorandum to the authorities. It is during this period that Gandhiji entered the political scene. He began to take an active role in the affairs of the Congress and introduced his 'weapon' for action, the satyagraha. For the first time, the Congress officially spoke about the role of the students in the struggle against the British. Though, during the Swaraj movement there was a call for the establishment of national educational institutions, it is only during the non-cooperation movement that the Congress had explicitly called for the gradual withdrawal of children from schools and colleges owned, aided or controlled by government 23. The slogan, 'swaraj in one year', also attracted lots of youth into the movement. The call for non-cooperation received a tremendous response from the students and many of them gave up their studies and joined the movement. Students struck work, to start with, in all places from Vizianagaram in the North to Nellore in the South. In some cases the strikes continued for a week and more. Hundreds of students left their studies. Some of them joined the new national schools and colleges, while some others joined the ranks of Congress volunteers Ibid, Page 55. The comparison with 'Bengalees' in the CID report is for this reason noteworthy because Ayyadevara Kaleswara Rao writes in his autobiography that in 1908 a Bengalee by name Sirkar (the police report calls him Chakravarthi) visited Bezawada, stayed in his house and informed them that he was deputed by the Bengal Revolutionary Committee to persuade the Andhra youth to join the Bengalee youth in bringing about an armed revolt against the British. 18 Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 2, Y.V. Krishna Rao and others Vishalandhra Publishing House, November 1988, Page M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 2, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1969, Page M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 3, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1965, Page

5 Newspapers like Krishna Patrika in its issue of 29 th January 1921 openly encouraged the students to join the movement: Students should give up their studies for a year and work in this direction. Oh! Students! In your colleges you do not learn anything better than selfinterest, dependence, etc. Give them up and devote one year to the attainment of freedom, to thoughts about the country and to the worship of popular force. Then, yourselves and your mother country will be regenerated. The Andhra students should follow the footsteps of their Bengalee brethren who go from village to village in great numbers to revivify and develop village life. There is already an agitation noticeable among the students in the colleges at Vizianagar, Cocanada, Rajahmundry, Masulipatnam, Guntur, Nellore, etc. In every town the students are abandoning these abodes of slaves. It will not do to give up education merely. In the chief town of every district, a peace army should be constituted and trained for a month. By the beginning of March an army of at least 200 for each district should have been trained to further the cause of non-cooperation in the right way. If the present teachers should lead these 'peace armies' the fortress of bureaucracy could be easily subjugated 25. Students and youth responded and joined the movement with great enthusiasm. They were trained as volunteers and it is upon them wrested the responsibility of maintaining order during various public meetings, picketing of liquor shops and shops selling foreign goods. It was again they that suffered most from the lathi blows of the police. In the conduct of the no-tax campaign in Guntur they became a great force. They frustrated all the efforts made by government to appoint substitutes in place of the village officers who resigned 26. The Rama Dandu of Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, which played an important role in the Chirala satyagraha 27, Shanti Sena in Pedanandipadu 28 and the heroic sacrifice of Kannuganti Hanumanthu 29 in Palnadu all show the exemplary courage and conviction displayed by the youth in carrying forward the struggle for independence. Naturally, when the movement was withdrawn, it had severely affected their morale. The search for alternative paths for some young people like Alluri Sitarama Raju, led to armed struggle 30. III By 1930s socialist ideas gained currency in Andhra region. Contacts with compatriots of Bhagat Singh, revolutionaries from other provinces in the various jails and the knowledge of the Russian revolution contributed to their dissemination. The Congress meetings too played a part in the spread of Left ideas. The first recorded organisation for youth and students formed by the socialists was the Sodara Samithi started by Kambhampati Satyanarayana and P. Sundarayya in in Madras 31. In 1931, Amir Haidar Khan formed Young Workers' League 32 as the Communist Party was under ban and Chandra Rajeswara Rao in an interview stated that he along with his comrades in the Benaras University formed the Young Communist League 33 in The activities of these organisations generally consisted of book reading, organising study circles and training in physical exercises. They also used to mobilise students to take part in the programmes of the Congress. This was once again the time when the Congress had called for the Civil Disobedience movement and youth participated in huge numbers, worked as Ibid, Document No 1, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Pages 79-93, Ibid. 31 Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 1, Kambhampati Satynarayana, Vishalandhra Publishing House, May 1983, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page

6 volunteers 34 and even braved the harsh prison sentences 35. All these measures failed to achieve their purpose and youth and students continued to participate in the movement in huge numbers. This was a fact acknowledged by Collectors of many districts, who had reported this phenomenon to the government 36. The youth were enraged by the atrocities committed by the British and some of them, taking inspiration form Bhagat Singh and his comrades, formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (Madras Branch) around As we had seen earlier, there were many youth organisations at the local and district level, but there existed no state level youth organisation, until the formation of the Andhra Socialist Party. The first Conference of the Youth Organisation was thus held on 1 st January 1935 and P. Sundarayya was elected as one of its joint secretaries 38. The second conference was held in 1936 in Kakinada 39 where a programme for the youth organisation was adopted. Along with fighting for independence, training in social service, conducting sports competitions and struggle for new social order and rousing revolutionary consciousness among the youth were the main objectives of the youth organisation 40. Further, Sports; study classes; night schools; libraries; observing anniversaries; volunteers band; the main problem facing the youth educational development of the youth; pressurising the government to eliminate unemployment; helping Congress and other mass organisations 41 were identified as the areas of work for the youth organisation. Youth organisation took up the issue of black marketing, raided the hoarders and distributed the goods. They ensured proper measures were followed when weighing and goods were sold at fair prices. They also picketed the liquor shops and campaigned against consumption of alcohol and toddy. They worked as volunteers in drought areas, they mobilised funds for drought relief, took up the issue of sanitation, toilets, etc 42. They conducted gymnasiums, debating competitions and also involved in all the village activities 43. Youth organisations revived many traditional folk arts and brought to forefront the cultural glory of the Telugus. They campaigned against cock fights and introduced in their place sports and games for the people. They brought before the people alternative culture that originally belonged to the people. They ran wall bulletins, study centres for newspapers and libraries. They worked against untouchability, against ostentatious display of wealth and urged it to be spent for the benefit of the village or people, they campaigned against the gosha system M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 3, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1965), Page Ibid, Page M. Venkatarangaiya, The Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh Vol 4, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1974, Documents 69 to 74, Pages The collector of West Godavari states: On the whole the actual sympathisers with the Civil Disobedience movement may be said to be the members of the intelligentsia classes, particularly falling under the following descriptions (a) members of the legal profession (b) English educated unemployed young men (c) some of the educated members of the economically advanced communities such as Kammas, Kshatriyas etc. (d) some of the culturally advanced community of the Brahmins (e) a few of the educated members of the rich money lending classes such as the Komatis. Similar is the impression of many other collectors as can be discerned from the other documents stated above. 37 Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 1, Kambhampati Satynarayana, Vishalandhra Publishing House, May 1983, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Andhra Pradesh lo Communist Udyama Charitra, Vol 2, Y.V. Krishna Rao and others Vishalandhra Publishing House, November 1988, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page 657. Some of the topics chosen for debating competition held in Krishna district give us an idea of the way they had functioned: What is the role of youth in the independence struggle? What is the way for the formation of the Andhra state? What should we do if war breaks out? What are the ways to increase literacy among the adults? What are the tasks of the Congress for the youth? Etc. 44 Ibid, Page

7 The youth organisation also took up the issue of dalits. They organised dalits on the basis of their socio-economic demands and not on caste lines. They took up the issue of their education, untouchability, lack of land and absence of government support 45. The youth organisation played an important role during the war period. It had campaigned against the world war and the fascist threat. Youth organisation worked together with the peasant organisation against the collection of war fund and procurement of paddy. They taught people selfprotection techniques during air raids and first aid through peoples' self defence camps. In this period, political campaign was carried out by organising training camps and cultural programmes. Extensive movement was carried demanding the release of national leaders who were imprisoned in August Stating that it is not possible for giving scientific and physical training to the youth by other mass organisations, so there is a need for separate organisations for the youth, the Socialist party adopted a resolution on the youth organisation in This makes for an interesting reading as some of the issues identified then, continue to plague the youth movement even today. The resolution states: Youth organisations should be platforms for training youth in economic, political, social and physical issues...those who are appointed to work in the youth organisations were not able to work in them as they were allotted work of other mass organisations 47. IV After the first Conference of the Communist Party in 1936, Communists started playing an active role in the student organisation. They worked hard to rebuild the student organisation and bring it back on the revolutionary tracks. The 15 th Conference of the student organisation held in 1937 in Guntur, was led by students who were with the Communist party or who were attracted to the Communist ideology. The student movement in the state took a decisive turn after the Conference at Guntur 48. Some of the issues taken up by the student organisation between were: Construction of cycle shed; drinking water facility; space for eating lunch; reduction in fees; students' representatives in games committees; elections in place of nomination system; banning corporal punishment; hostel facility; proper utilisation of library fee; keeping national books in the libraries; left, progressive publications like Navasakti, Vahini and Prajabandu should be subscribed by the libraries; timely printing of college magazines (in those situations where money is collected but the magazines are not printed); putting an end to the imposition of fines; the power to scrutinise expenditure of the college student unions should be given to the students as per the university norms; the right to form a students' union should not be infringed; no repressive measures on those who are part of students' unions and other such problems were raised. Above all the demand to withdraw the detention system intended to filter students from pursuing higher education was taken up by the student movement 49. The student movement during this period also fought against some of the draconian ordinances that sought to curtail the democratic rights of the students and ban them from taking an active part in politics. Ironically, these orders were passed by the Congress government of the Madras Presidency 50. Following suit, Andhra University too passed similar disciplinary rules in December 1938: Officials of the educational institute can ban the students from taking part in political meetings. They can ban strikes. They can rusticate students from the hostels if they 45 Ibid, Page Some of the minimum demands put forth by the meeting organised by the organisation are: Food, land, freedom, peace, eight hours work, abolition of vetti, hostels, free education, vocational education, providing work on lean days, insurance and credit facilities, children should not be employed as palers and coolies; inhuman social practices should be stopped. 46 Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Pages , 532.

8 participate in strikes 51. This is similar to what the British did two decades earlier. This is what our present rulers are doing too. During the last decade of the previous millennium and the first decade of this millennium, the student movement in Andhra Pradesh was forced to fight, just as their predecessors had done during the 1930s, against these anti-democratic orders. The only difference, in the 30s it was during colonial slavery we had fought and in the more recent instance, the fight was carried out in independent India (of course, this is due to the subjugation before the neo-liberal economic policies). Another comparison is the attitude towards the foreign educational institutes. One of the charter of demands 52 adopted by the student organisation in its Guntur conference says: Importance should not be given to the foreign educational institutes. Today, the student movement is once again forced to make a similar demand, with an addition that they should not be allowed into the country. The student organisation took up the issues of dalits, particularly the issue of untouchability. They launched a struggle and succeeded in removing the partition in the dining hall for students of various castes 53. Similarly in Pitapuram the student organisation passed a resolution against the officials who recommended that hostels for the dalits should be closed and dalits too should pay tuition fees 54. The students movement also demanded the removal of the column asking for the students' caste and religion from the application forms 55. Not until recently did this column was removed at least in some institutions. Demanding the withdrawal of fee hike, students, upon the call of the student organisation, submitted memoranda to C. Rajagopalachari, the Chief Minister (Prime Minister) when he came to tour Andhra districts in July Defending the government's decision to increase fees, Rajaji stated: It is to provide free education to harijans that we had increased the fees 56. Rajaji has loyal followers in the present day's government! The student movement also addressed the issue of eve-teasing and other problems of the girl students. A separate meeting of the girl students was organised in Kakinada, with representatives from various districts to discuss the problems faced by girl students and devise methods to struggle against them 57. The student movement also took measures to ensure that discipline is maintained by the students and they do not resort to malpractices during examinations 58. They ran night schools for workers and other toiling sections of the society 59. Campaigns were conducted against cholera and such other contagious diseases 60. Steps were taken by the student organisation to involve all sections of the students in the organisation, specifically those who were inclined towards sports and cultural activities 61. In the Nizam ruled territories, particularly, Hyderabad, the student movement grew out of the struggle against the decision of the Nizam's administration banning the singing of Vandemataram. The movement, popularly called as the Vandemataram movement started in November 1938, when 51 Ibid, Pages 497, Ibid, Pages In fact the Charter of demands make an interesting reading, particularly as a comparative study. They deal with many of the issues that the current student movement too is grappling with like the provision of minimum facilities in the educational institutes, free and compulsory education, non-interference of religion, content of textbooks, curriculum, autonomy, democratic rights for students, disciplinary rules and fees. 53 Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page 548. The experiences of the Visakhapatnam committee that ran schools for the harbour workers and fishermen was particularly noteworthy. 60 Ibid, Page 603. These kind of activities contributed to the expansion of the student organisation in Anantapur and in other districts in the Rayalaseema region. 61 Ibid, Page 577.

9 Osmania university officials banned the singing of Vandemataram. Students broke the rules and continued singing the song. 350 students from Osmania university, 1200 from Hyderabad, 120 from Mahabubnagar, 70 from city college and 350 students from Warangal, Aurangabad and Bidar were removed from the rolls 62. State Congress has asked the students to apologise and join the institutes. Students did not heed to this advice but continued their struggle. Vandemataram student organisation was formed. Study circles were organised. This movement had a nationwide impact. Slowly many of the leaders of the movement got attracted to the socialist ideas. During the last months of 1939, Comrades Association was formed for the youth by all those students, professors who were against fascism, imperialism and Nizam 63. Two years later, in 1941 they formed the All Hyderabad Students Union, which won the elections in Osmania university for the students union of This contributed to the expansion of the organisation to many districts and colleges in the region 64. In July 1938, the Communist Party, reviewed the functioning of the student organisation. It selfcritically accepted that sectarianism still pervades in functioning and that local problems are not given proper importance. It advised the student comrades to report back to the students regularly about the status of the struggles. It also advised them to regularly involve the parents and general population by distributing leaflets to them on the struggles they had carried, the achievements, the promises made by the government, if they are met or not and other details. It also wanted the cadre to make a comparative study of the educational policies pursued by the various state governments in the country and also learn about the struggles, experiences of the student movement in other countries 65. The party also wanted the cadre to be aware of the national and international developments and learn about the role played by students in various struggles, particularly the struggles for socialism. Many reports appear about the student and youth participation in the Quit India movement during the years Regular strikes took place in colleges and schools and apart from this students and youth played an active part in the burning of laboratories, railway stations, cutting of telegraph wires and railway lines 66. When the INA soldiers were arrested and put to trial, students organised many demonstrations in solidarity with the INA soldiers 67. Communists yielded tremendous influence over the student and youth organisations during this period. This is a fact that was grudgingly accepted by the Congress and with a lot of anxiety by the British 68. It is in this background that the country secured its freedom from the colonial rule. A section of the people of Andhra Pradesh, however, were still fighting against the Nizam rule and the feudal oppression in his territories. The Telengana armed struggle received substantial support from the Andhra regions too. Youth played an important part in this struggle in both the regions. Many of them lost their lives, heroically faced police and razakar brutalities and never thought twice to sacrifice for the cause of the movement. The various tales recalled by P. Sundarayya in his seminal work, The History and Lessons of the Telangana Armed Struggle illustrate this point. V The differences that had cropped up during the Quit India movement led to the split in the student movement. With India securing independence, those who had formed the National Students' Union argued that the need for a student/youth organisation ceased to exist. They contended that even if 62 Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page M. Venkatarangaiya, The History of the Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol 4, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1974, Pages 162, 192, 907, 909, 914, 959, Ibid, Page Ibid, Page

10 they exist, they should, only to support the government in its endeavours to build an independent India. A substantial section among the student/youth organisations disagreed with this view and stated that the need for them still exists, until the government fulfils all the promises of the freedom struggle. Till then, they argued, the student/youth organisations should work to pressurise the government into action. There was virtual stagnation in the movement by the end of the 1950s and the early 1960s. This continued for a few years, and the differences that had appeared in the communist movement too had an impact on the student and youth movements and its activities. The leadership of that period acted against the aims of the federation on crucial issues like 'emergency', 'peace' and joint exercises with the military. In this background, the task to organise the student federation as a militant and united movement had come forward. As a result of this, the 29 th Conference of the student movement was organised on 18, 19, January 1964 in Vijayawada 69. After the split, there was once again a movement in the student activities. A.P. Vittal states: This is not because of the intelligence, concern and commitment of the new leadership. The objective conditions prevalent in Andhra Pradesh and for that matter in the country are responsible for this growth 70. It was able to lead the students once again on their demands like against the detention system, against the hike in hotel prices, mess rates, etc. More importantly, during this period the agitation demanding the establishment of a steel plant in Visakhapatnam was actively engaging the attention of the people and students and youth took an active part in it. They also took an active part in the food movement, satyagrahas, movement against price hike and hunger yatras. A dangerous tendency also was witnessed during this period. Movements for the division of the state too were launched. The discontent brewing among the people was sought to be diverted by raising sectarian demands. Students and youth, who got carried away, ultimately realised the hollowness of these demands. An understanding that students should play an important role in politics began to grow. This did not confine itself to just that but was stretched to a point wherein the difference between a student organisation and political party got blurred. In some instances, the student federation actually acted as a political party. To tell the truth, politics became the main points of discussion. There came a situation where there was no difference between a student organisation and a political party. By 1968, the student federation lost its student organisation character and became a pure political party. The slogan that universities are centres for revolution has come forward. The adventurist ideas that had appeared in Andhra Pradesh political scene during this period were patronising such immature ideas. What more needs to be told? Immaturity+political adventurism+haughtiness that came from the recent victories of the movement+wrong understanding about the student movement together enveloped the just developing student federation. 'Those who accept Marxism-Leninism, Mao thought only can become a member of the student federation', became the norm. Nearly 80 percent of the cadre in different levels of committees got carried away by adventurism. They controlled the state student federation 71. Once again the student movement witnessed a split. The 70s marked the imposition of internal emergency in the country and the struggle carried out by the students and youth in defence of democratic rights. Even while a section of the student movement supported the emergency, the student movement was able to join vast numbers of people in ultimately forcing the government to repeal emergency. Many of the leaders of the political parties today, have actually cut their teeth in the anti-emergency struggle. The review of the activities undertaken by the student movement during emergency in the Patna Conference of SFI was interesting. It self-critically notes: The resistance to the Emergency put up nundi 67 varaku Andhra Pradesh lo Vidyarthi Federation, A.P. Vittal, Special Souvenir, 6 th All India Conference of SFI, 1986, Page Ibid. 71 Ibid, Page 57.

11 by the SFI, the firm uncompromising stand of the SFI comrades and the various activities conducted by the SFI gave it an increased prestige and influence among the student masses. However, a careful review of our work during emergency shows that whereas our activists and leading comrades at various levels withstood the attacks and actively worked to oppose the emergency, it is also clear that we were unable to move the student masses in a big way into action on the political demands against the Emergency (emphasis added). By and large the struggles were confined to the immediate demands of the students 72. This criticism in a way opens us to the problems faced by the student and youth movements today. VI The 80s were a decade of separatist movements, spurt in terrorist activities, movements based on identities region, religion and caste. The 80s also witnessed the introduction of the New Education Policy and the advent of computers in a big way. These two developments have a lasting impact not only on the student and youth movements but also on the behavioural patterns of the students and youth. Liberalisation of the economy was initiated, to actually gain pace in the 90s. Two decades since, the wounds or benefits are deep, depending on which side of the fence you are in. The impact of neo-liberal policies with their influence on politics, culture and social aspects of our life had an impact on the student and youth movement. Government educational institutes, strongholds for the student movement, where majority of the students studied, lost their charm. The number of private institutes is on the rise. A new situation has arisen where you have more number of students studying in engineering courses than in the traditional arts courses. The implementation of New Education Policy 1986, brought before the student movement new challenges. Though a united student and youth movement was launched to fight the introduction of capitation fee in Andhra Pradesh. The Supreme Court ruled for differential fee system in educational institutes. This judgement posed many questions than it answered. The judgement given by the same Court in the TMA Pai case did not help in clearing the prevailing confusion, but in fact accentuated the problems and brought new issues before the student movement. These issues were much broader than simply concerning with admission policy and brought into question the rights of citizens as prescribed in our Constitution. The discussion also centred around, fundamental rights versus directive principles or much broadly private right of a citizen versus the social good. Underneath all this is an effort to make a sense of globalisation. Centre for the Studies of the Developing Societies (CSDS), in collaboration with Konard-Adenauer- Stiftung (KAS) carried out a survey among the youth of our country and has released a report, 'Indian Youth in a Transforming World: Attitudes and Perception'. According to the Report, only 29 percent of the Indian youth have ever heard about globalisation. The Report says, there is a 'divided opinion of youth on the advantages and disadvantages of globalisation'. The number of those who see it as advantages from among the lower socio economic group was about the same as those who saw it as disadvantageous, and those who saw it as disadvantageous dropped with higher income. There seems to be an increasing perception that globalisation is the only way to enter the future and that that the older strategies of selfreliance and autarkic development are strategies of the past 73. This clearly points out to the perceptions prevalent among the youth based on the class to which they belong. Any student/youth movement that intends to organise these sections has to consider, as the results of the above Report point out, the illusions about globalisation that still persist even among the exploited classes. That there is an equal number who consider globalisation to be disadvantageous is heartening. Another big question confronting the student and youth movements during this phase of globalisation is the increasing apathy towards politics. There is a general perception that youth are 72 Political Organisational Report of SFI, 3 rd All India Conference, Patna, Overview of the Report, Indian Youth in a Transforming World: Attitudes and Perception, by CSDS and KAS

12 largely apolitical and harbour an inherent hatred towards politics and political parties 74. The CSDS- KAS in another Report state: While in 1996, 37 per cent of youth were interested in politics, this number has been consistently rising ever since and as many as 52 per cent of those surveyed between the age group of 18 and 33 this time said they had some interest in politics 75. Analysing the voting pattern of the youth ( ), the Report concludes: The voting pattern of the youth is not very different from voters of other age group; they do not seem to be inclined for or against any political party in particular. The mid 1990s witnessed a distinct shift of the youth towards the BJP (1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha election) more amongst the urban and educated youth. But BJP seems to have lost its advantage amongst the urban and educated youth in recent years. The gender divide is quite evident amongst the youth, young women are more in favour of the Congress while the young men more inclined towards the BJP 76. The challenge before the Left, progressive and democratic student and youth movements is to tap the growing political interest among the youth and channelise it in a positive direction. This is particularly important at the present juncture because of the severe global economic crisis that the world finds itself in. The World Youth Report 2011, unambiguously states: Across regions, young people are disproportionately affected by unemployment, underemployment, vulnerable employment and working poverty. Even during periods of economic growth, many economies have been unable to absorb large youth populations into the labour market. In recent years, however, the global financial and economic crisis has further hit young people particularly hard in the developed world 77. Moreover, during economic downturns as the one that we are currently witnessing, young people are often the 'last in' and the 'first out' the last to be hired, and the first to be dismissed 78. Even for arguments sake if we do agree that the world is out of recession and there is no serious danger to the economy as the process of recovery has set in, the conditions for the youth are not going to be good any time soon. Previous economic recessions have shown that youth employment conditions recover much more slowly than resumptions of economic growth. In the 1990s, countries required an average of 11 years to restore pre-crisis lows of youth unemployment (International Labour Organization, International Institute for Labour Studies, 2010, Box 1.1). Those countries that were not able to restore pre-crisis levels took, on average, 17 years to attain a partial recovery. During recovery phases, displaced workers who found new jobs generally earned lower wages. These lessons from previous crises suggest that youth employment challenges are likely to persist for some time 79. India is going to be one of those countries which will witness a growth in the working age population. A 2010 Goldman Sachs paper projected that India's industry would need to create nearly 40 million jobs by the end of this decade to absorb this huge increase in the labour force 80. But unfortunately this does not seem to be happening. Unemployment and poverty are identified 74 Political Organisational Report, 13 th State Conference of Democratic Youth Federation of India, Andhra Pradesh, Page 5. The Report of the DYFI adopted in its recent state conference puts it very clearly, The youth are engulfed by an apolitical atmosphere. They have a misconception about politics. But they are observing the political changes. The Report also mentions that 18 percent of the youth in the age group are involving in government or NGO activities. Of them, 75.3 percent are participating in government programmes, 23.4 percent in NGOs and only 1.3 percent in programmes organised by political parties. 75 PTI report, February 28, 2012 on 'Indian Youth not Averse to Politics: Study'. The study done by CSDS-KAS is titled, 'Indian Youth and Politics: An Emerging Engagement'. In fact the report also quotes the study and mentions that respondents are divided into 'older' and 'younger' and found that over 60 percent of the younger ones were interested in politics as compared to 50 percent of the older respondents. Does that point to something rosy and optimistic? 76 Summary, Indian Youth and Politics: An Emerging Engagement, CSDI-KAS Study. 77 World Youth Report 2011, UNESCO, Page Ibid, Page Ibid, Page Is a Youth Revolution Brewing in India? Sambudddha Mitra Mustafi, New York Times, August 27, 2012.