SFI, JNU Unit Opposes CPI(M) Support to Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature
July 8, 2012
<http://bargad.org/2012/07/08/cpim-support-to-pranab-mukherjee/>

*SFI-JNU Pamphlet Dated July, 7, 2012, After the SFI GBM held on July 5,
2012 on CPI(M)’s Support to Pranab Mukherjee in Presidential Elections*

*SFI GBM Resolution*

The SFI JNU Unit held a General Body Meeting on 5.07.2012 to discuss the
CPI (M)’s decision to support Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential
Elections. On behalf of the Executive Committee, SFI-JNU Unit, a resolution
was placed in the GBM for discussion. The GBM passed the
resolution<http://sfijnuweb.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/resolution-pass/>by
a margin of 37 votes against 2 (with 7 abstentions). Nobody, who
participated in the vibrant and lively discussion, spoke in favour of the
support extended to Pranab Mukherjee. The resolution expresses concern at
the disruption of Left unity over the presidential elections and has termed
the CPI (M)’s decision to support UPA’s nominee Pranab Mukherjee
unconvincing. It also evokes the SFI’s
programme<http://sfi-delhi.website.org/index.php/our-programme>,
which gives the organization a right to take an independent position guided
by its objectives of promoting a discussion on ways to achieve scientific
socialism and zealously guarding its progressive character.

* **Why GBM Now?*

* *A wide debate has unfolded after the CPI (M)’s decision to support
Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential elections. Despite the ongoing summer
vacations, JNU has not been untouched by this debate. In the past few weeks
the SFI came under severe attack from ultra-Left organizations like the
AISA over this issue. Students were asking about SFI’s position and we
could not afford to remain silent. Given the urgency of the situation and
considering the interests of the organization in JNU, the SFI EC decided to
initiate a debate involving all available SFI members and arrive at a
common position. To do so, the highest democratic platform of the GBM has
been utilized. In the given situation, this exercise could not have been
delayed any further.

*JNU-SFI’s Legacy*

The SFI has been a major political force in JNU ever since the inception of
the JNU student movement. The SFI takes great pride in its contribution to
the evolution of the JNUSU and the JNU student movement, which have played
a pioneering role in the progressive-democratic student movement in our
country. The SFI’s commitment to the JNU student movement was proved beyond
doubt by the manner in which it resolutely fought the four year long
struggle for restoration of the JNUSU Elections despite all attempts of
disrupting unity and diversion. Historically political polarizations in JNU
have taken place on a bipolar basis, with SFI being one consistent pole.
The SFI has retained the leadership of the JNUSU for a major part of the
four decade old JNUSU.

* **Post-2007 Situation*

* *There has been a structural break in this trend since 2007. For the
first time in 2007 JNUSU Elections, the SFI failed to win any Office-Bearer
position. The elections were held in the aftermath of the political
developments in West Bengal, surrounding Singur and Nandigram. In the JNUSU
elections held in March 2012, the SFI failed to reverse the adverse
electoral trend witnessed in 2007. Organizational reviews in this period
have identified both political and organizational reasons for the poor
performance. However the primacy of political factors, primarily those
related to Singur-Nandigram and the general state of the Left movement in
the country has been noted in inner-organizational discussions. In a left
leaning political campus like JNU, these developments have eroded the SFI’s
support base among the progressive and democratic minded students. The
developments since 2007 have made the SFI vulnerable to attacks of
“double-speak” by the ultra Left, which has gained at SFI’s cost. Sections
of the Left leadership though, have stressed on organizational reasons to
explain the SFI’s performance in this period. Focusing exclusively on
organizational issues without addressing underlying political questions is
not a scientific approach.

*Relevance of Political Issues*

* *Questions have been raised whether Singur-Nandigram, the state of the
Left movement in India or the current debate over CPI (M)’s support for
Pranab Mukherjee are issues which at all concern student politics and hence
the SFI in JNU. Such an approach which seeks to depoliticize the student
movement has never found favour within the students of JNU, who consider
all major international and national issues of the day relevant for the
student movement. That is precisely why SFI-JNU, since its inception, has
taken positions on all major national issues like the Emergency, Mandal
Commission, Babri Masjid Demolition, anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat,
Indo-US nuclear deal etc. and international issues like Vietnam War,
Tiananmen Square protests, 9/11 and war on terror, Palestine, Arab
Uprisings, Occupy Wall Street etc. It is not only the SFI but all other
student organizations functioning in JNU, representing diverse
ideological-political streams, which take positions on major international
and national issues.  SFI’s Constitutional provision of a primary unit’s
purview of decision-making has never come in the way of SFI-JNU’s adopting
positions on international and national issues, given the all-India
character of JNU and its level of political debate.

*Critique of Support to Pranab Mukherjee*

* *In this backdrop SFI-JNU is of the opinion that the disruption of Left
unity following CPI (M)’s support for Pranab Mukherjee is a matter of
serious concern, especially since the AISF is a long term alliance partner
of the SFI in JNU. Moreover, the explanations offered in defence of the
decision to support Pranab Mukherjee are far from convincing. First, in a
context where the BJP’s candidate has no chance of getting elected, support
to a candidate like Pranab Mukherjee – who has been at the helm of UPA’s
anti-people neoliberal policies – cannot be justified on the grounds of
keeping communal forces at bay. Secondly, the “tactical” attempts to
maneuver a wedge between TMC and the Congress in the interest of the Left
are not in keeping with the ground realities in West Bengal, where the Left
has faced reverses because of its basic class allies deserting it.

*Adopting Forthright Positions*

The interests of the SFI-JNU are intrinsically linked to these political
issues. Neither can SFI-JNU defend unconvincing political decisions in
public like support for Pranab Mukherjee in Presidential elections nor can
it remain silent on acts like the recent murder of RMP leader TP
Chandrasekharan in Kerala. Several CPI (M) functionaries have been arrested
in the case so far, while investigations continue. The outrageous statement
made by a CPI (M) leader M.M.Mani has only made matters worse. This has
become a major political issue in Kerala as well as JNU. The SFI-JNU has
taken a principled position on the issue and demanded action against the
guilty irrespective of political affiliations. The all-India leadership of
the SFI has not adopted any stand on these issues till date.

*Political Stand not Linked to Individuals*

Attempts are being made in sections of the media to portray the SFI-JNU’s
decision as an act against or in favour of certain individuals. Such
interpretations reflect a shallow understanding of the SFI’s legacy of
seriously engaging with political-ideological debates, which have bearings
on the project of radical transformation of Indian society. JNU is one of
the few educational institutions in our country where campus politics
continues to be based on ideological-political questions and not
divisive-sectarian trends or vested interests.

* **Emerging Global Context*

** In a backdrop where a new wave of mass struggles is building up across
the world against the neo-liberal order – from Occupy Wall Street to the
streets of Athens – there is a need to engage in serious debates around
alternatives to neoliberal capitalism and socialism in the 21st century.
History teaches us that one of the major shortcomings of the socialist
experiments of the 20th century was to address the questions of democracy,
civil liberties, freedom of expression and tolerance towards political
dissent. SFI-JNU believes that all those fighting for the socialist cause
today should draw correct lessons from those failures and imbibe democratic
methods of functioning in letter and spirit. Highhanded and authoritarian
approaches, devoid of any politics, are deeply inimical to the cause of the
Left.

*The Way Ahead*

Student politics is about joining the battle of ideas. SFI-JNU would
undertake this task with utmost sincerity in the days to come, when the
university reopens in the next few weeks. SFI-JNU will initiate more
participative and wider discussions in keeping with the long cherished
slogan: “When Politics decides your future, decide what your Politics
should be”. SFI-JNU will relentlessly take up student issues and fight to
advance the rights of the students of JNU. SFI-JNU will stand in firm
solidarity with the Left and democratic movement in India and all genuine
peoples’ movements, while combating Left-adventurist and
Right-opportunistic trends.

*Released by SFI, JNU Unit*

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