How students navigate campus politics in Kerala; voices from the ground

Alodin J. Kalappurackal, hails from Murikkasserry in the Idukki district of Kerala. Now the Chairman of the Students Federation of India (SFI) at the CMS College, he follows the Congress-leaning background of his family. Before becoming a staunch SFI activist, however, he was a churgoer and regularly attended Sunday school classes, even though he was not a believer.

The current state of campus politics worries Mr. Kalappurackal due to the increasing clampdown on political activity by the administration and apoliticalisation of a large number of students. “The management is bent against student politics after a strike and subsequent order of the High Court barring political activity inside the campus”, he said.

Shift in campus politics

Campus politics in Kerala has been significant in shaping the political landscape of the state. It functions as a structured gateway to launch students into major political parties. Students get access to these student organizations right after their admission. If they get to hold leadership roles in the student wings, they get in touch with the local or district leaders of the parent party. It’s the time when a potential candidate’s commitment to the party’s ideology is observed.

The SFI and KSU work as formal entry points for CPI (M) and Congress, respectively. Being an integral part of the student wings of these political parties, students gain an understanding of the demands of a political career. They get shaped for it through campaigns, campus elections, and more.

After their tenure in student wings, they gradually get inducted into different committees of political parties. Some of the young leaders of the Students Federation of India, from the late 1980s, later graduated in politics to become State Ministers in the second LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan.

Kottayam district has always been Congress territory, by and large, yet SFI has ruled its campuses. However, stricter administrative protocols to curb political activities are in place now.

Students at CMS say that since the college has become autonomous, the management has sought to curb political activities like conducting marches or strikes on the campus. The situation, however, is not the same across Kerala.

The decline in political involvement of students, however, isn’t solely due to this clampdown by the institutes. There is a shift in students’ political inclinations, with some choosing to stay away from it. There is a general decline in students’ engagement with political thought and a disconnect with issues.

A neutral voice

In the historic CMS College, India’s first Western-style institution, established in 1817, campus life remains vibrant even after the academic year. Amidst the lingering echoes of student politics, Bhavik Oomen John, a first-year student of the FYUP programme, is preparing to take on a role in the upcoming drama Saksharam. The play tells the story of Benjamin Bailey, who founded the first Malayalam printing press in 1821.

Mr. Bhavik, who hails from a family with no political background, is a unique voice on the campus. His father, a clergy member of the Marthoma church, was transferred to various States, including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, during Mr. Bhavik’s school years. However, when his father returned to his native Kottayam, Mr. Bhavik chose to join CMS College, drawn by its renowned English department.

Despite being aware of the college’s reputation for student politics and violence, Mr. Bhavik remained undeterred. “I wasn’t apprehensive, even though I’d heard stories about campus politics in Kerala,” he said in an interview with The Hindu.

Mr. Bhavik decided to maintain a neutral stance in campus politics. Both student organizations’ members accept him because of his neutral stance. “I could participate in college politics, but I think neutrality is the best position for me,” he explained.

The CMS College has units of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the Kerala Students Union (KSU), two prominent student organizations in the state. Bhavik’s parents were initially anxious about sending him to the college due to the notorious strikes and violence associated with campus politics in Kerala.

Mr. Bhavik did come across some campus violence. He observed how scuffles among friends escalate into attacks between two political groups. The teachers try to dissipate the tension, but they often call the police since it can get out of control.

The college administration has implemented measures to curb political activity, prohibiting slogan-shouting and processions within the campus. The tension and friction are now limited to the eve of elections. “At other times, there’s not much political heat inside the campus”, he says.

Politics in lineage

Politics is in his lineage for Jubin Lalu Jacob, 26, a first-year B.A. Communicative English student at the CMS College. His paternal grandfather was active in Kerala Congress politics, and Mr. Jacob is now an activist of the Kerala Students Union (KSU) at the CMS College.

Jubin’s parents were both employed in Qatar, and he studied up to eighth standard at the Birla Public School in Doha. He came back to Kerala during Class 9 admissions. He, however, went back to Doha after the twelfth and studied BBA in digital marketing at Doha. In the third year, he sustained serious burn injuries while on his way to college with three of his friends in a car. He came back to Kerala for treatment, which cost him his degree in Doha.

He, however, continued the trade he learnt at the Doha college back home in Kerala. He started a digital marketing company at his place in Vazhoor. While doing this work of promotions of companies and clients, he joined the CMS College for first year degree (FYUGP).

Mr. Jacob says the students organizations are paralysed in the campuses nowadays and they are no more oriented towards protecting the interests of the student community. “Here the politics is limited to two or three days before the election day. The students organizations are in no way representing the interests of the students in the case of the issues of the students”, he told The Hindu.

He advocated for reinventing the vibrant campuses of the state. Mr. Jacob thinks these campuses need to ingrain clarity in the minds of students in terms of political ideology as well as educate them to stand for various causes. That, however, is not happening. Mr. Jacob who is influenced by political leader Oomen Chandy and Congress supporter rues the fact that even many of his co-students were less politically literate to know the basic things of politics.

Mr. Jacob says he finds it an arduous task to get along with his business and also his studies. He ran a small office with four employees. The main work is social media campaign and public relations works for companies and political parties.

Mr. Jacob campaigned for Francis George and Anto Antony in the previous general elections. More importantly, he says that violence on campuses, mainly attacking rival party members, should be done away with. Over the past year, he came across some similar incidents in which KSU activists were attacked on the campus. “A miscalculated blow could change a life. So we should understand that violence is not a viable solution to settle differences,” he said.

Lack of political consciousness among students

The CMS College, which has a strength of 2,600 students, has limited student political activities to outside the campus ever since 2017. “This is limiting the conducting of marches or strikes inside the college. Ever since the College became autonomous, the College management put a curb on the student politics”, Mr. Kalappurackal says.

Mr. Kalappurackal told The Hindu that the College management asks management quota students to refrain from participating in student politics. “The management is bent against student politics after a strike and subsequent order of the High Court barring political activity inside the campus. However, we used to convey to the students our political views”, he said.

Mr. Kalappurackal  observed that what is worrying is the increasing apoliticisation of the students. He says that a major segment of the students are apolitical. “If an artist group came and got fielded in elections they will vote for them. The main challenge is the lack of political consciousness of the students,” he said.

Mr. Kalappurackal said there is a worrying trend of lack of consciousness and knowledge regarding politics among students. He, however, observes an undercurrent of certain communal elements in the campus which is yet to unfold fully.

Mr. Kalappurackal says the students were put under immense pressure by the College management not to speak about politics on the campus. Since there were precedents of student political activists getting suspended for engaging in politics, a majority would like to remain silent on the campuses. “The lack of political consciousness is also due to the absence of serious reading”, he says.

According to Mr. Kalappurackal, during the student union elections, campaigns usually revolve around things done for the College as also the public causes like the growing communalisation of politics. “The growing menace of synthetic drugs and ganja are immense and they are conducting awareness programmes against the substance abuse”, he says.