Introduction

This article engages with the concept of an ‘apolitical campus’ or, in other words, a campus without student politics. The need to engage with this idea and concept arises because in India post-independence, over a period, there has been a constant push by various governments and university administrators to reduce or stop student politics within campuses, arguing that Indian university campuses should be apolitical in nature and those who do politics inside a campus destroy their career in general and influence other students (PTI, 2022). In India, in technical universities like IITs and IISC, this argument is even stronger as it is widely pushed that the technical universities should primarily be for science and education (Rao, 2020). This argument emerges from understanding student politics in university campuses as ‘indiscipline’ and something that is ‘not required.’ (Mookerjee, 1972). This article provides a brief history of the process of ‘depoliticization’ (which I will be arguing in the article) from governments and university administration towards attaining ‘apolitical campuses’ in India.

Major efforts to depoliticize Indian university campuses in Independent India: 1960-70s

Student politics in India has a long history. Indian universities, since pre-independence, have always been a political space. Leaders like M.K. Gandhi and Bhagat Singh, who fought for independence, argued positively about the importance of student politics (Altbach, 1966).

Student politics in India saw the first significant challenge in post-independent India during the 1960-70s. During emergency years, Indira Gandhi’s government dealt brutally with the students. Many prominent student leaders were sent to jail and various measures were adopted to depoliticize Indian universities. Students involved in student movements were thrown out of colleges and were denied admission. Students’ Unions were banned, and directives were issued for forming student “associations” through indirect elections. The functions of such “associations” were entirely cultural in nature. The government introduced the idea of the “constructive role of students in implementing the ’20 point’ program and national development” (Jayaram,1979, pp. 685-686).

The government also brought educational reforms as another measure to depoliticize campuses; one such measure was implementing a “semester system” in universities.  Under the semester system, neither the curriculum nor the teaching method changed. This system only manipulated the structure of coursework and conducting examinations to keep students busy and to have better control over them so that they could not participate in political activity. In some states like Maharashtra and Karnataka, the governments introduced ordinances, resulting in the curtailment of academic freedom and an increase in governmental interference (Jayaram, 1979).

During this period, prominent universities with rich student politics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU) came under attack. JNU was one of the most radical in India. With the onset of the Emergency, at least 60 student leaders were arrested and sent to jail. The Students’ Union, which was completely independent in nature, was dismantled, and mandatory membership of the Union shifted to voluntary, thus weakening the organization. The university also imposed the “norms of behavior for students.” The university expelled several students involved in student politics. In response to this crackdown, Students’ Union called for a boycott of classes on 22^nd August 1975 and faculty supported this boycott.

New university policies reduced the Students’ Union into a cultural association and provided academic authorities with power to nominate individuals for union positions. The right of the union to protest university decisions was eliminated, and the union was provided with a staff advisor who had veto power over all decisions (Saurabh, 2022).

 Contemporary Times in India

 In recent years, especially in the past 7-8 years, we once again witnessed a sharp attack on student politics and university campuses. The argument of apolitical campuses and depoliticizing campuses has raised its hood. In various student movements, whether it was around Rohit Vemula’s case (2016), the JNU fee hike (2019) (Trivedi, 2020), or the Jamia Millia Islamia incident (2019) (David, 2021), we have seen a tussle between the students and administration (university and state). But the real question is whether university campuses can ever be apolitical. History suggests that the answer is negative. For instance, the student movements around the unfortunate incident of Rohit Vemula’s suicide saw a new development in student politics, like the formation of Joint Action Committees (JAC) consisting of student organizations from various universities. It was a relatively new kind of association between student organizations (Shantha, 2019).

The Process of Depoliticization

 Various Indian governments and university administrations have continuously tried to restrict student politics in Indian university campuses across various decades. Whenever governments or university administrations do not find them aligned with student politics, they try to derail student politics, and for that, they take several measures and adopt strategies. I argue to read these measures as ‘the process of depoliticization’ of university campuses to attain the ‘apolitical campus.’ I argue that the concept of ‘the process of depoliticization’ helps us to understand the actions against student movements and politics in totality, i.e., also considering the history of such actions in the past instead of seeing them in isolation. This concept provides a lens to read an important aspect i.e., ‘actions of authorities’ associated with student politics and university campuses.

Conclusion

Student politics is an ever-growing phenomenon globally. I have cited the history and examples from India, but we can also witness student politics growing in other countries. By citing the various ‘anti-student politics’ measures and strategies adopted by various governments, along with the continuous demand for apolitical campuses, I argue that whenever student movements do not align with the government or a particular university administration, authorities through ‘the process of depoliticization’ try to attain an apolitical campus and it is a continuous ongoing process. The adoption of various measures of social justice, for instance, reservations in the admissions in Indian universities, has, to an extent, changed the nature of the population in Indian universities and campuses saw an increase in the number of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) students and with them came their politics of social justice and equality. In contemporary student politics in India, the SC, ST, and OBC student politics hold a major role; therefore, the question of ‘the process of depoliticization’ and ‘apolitical campus’ in contemporary times also becomes a question of reducing or stopping the politics of SC, ST and OBC students. Still, when we explore history and contemporary events, we find that the ‘apolitical campus’ is a far-fetched dream and is not a reality.