Student unrest signals maturing of democracy | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis
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Gangtok witnessed violence involving
students and the police. National
Highway 31A leading to our borders
with Tibet (Nathu La) remained
blocked for a couple of days and
there were bursts of tear-gas shells
many times to open up the passage.
The unrest is a matter of concern for
the region's students as well as
people. Strikes and blockades were
not commonplace in this part of the
country. Compared to other North-
Eastern states, Sikkim, generally
known to be peaceful, has been
witnessing disturbances since the
last elections in May 2014. Two
people had lost their lives in
election-related violence, which is
uncharacteristic of Sikkim's politics.
On July 14, students of Sikkim
Government College, Tadong in
Gangtok, protested against fee hike
by blocking National Highway 31A.
The hike was unjustified as the
government, in one stroke, increased
the semester fee from Rs300 to
Rs1,700. The government's
justification was that a hike in
tuition fees had been kept in
abeyance for several years.
The Sikkim government college in
Tadong is the first college to have
come up in the state; it was
established in 1977, as a night
college, after the merger of Sikkim
with the Indian Union in May, 1975.
Prior to that, students had to go to
colleges in Darjeeling and other
parts of West Bengal; those who had
money could land up in Delhi.
Access to higher education was the
preserve of those who could spend
money on travel and live in hostels
outside of Sikkim.
On July 14, the day when the
academic session began, students
from the Government College
marched to the Ministry of Human
Resources Development, demanding
a repeal of the fee hike. The officials
were not in a mood to entertain the
frustrated students who resorted to
road blockade; this indeed is an
effective means of protest as it is
the only main highway to the capital
and the Government College in
Tadong is right on the National
Highway! Gangtok, in any case, is on
either side of the highway, and there
aren't many roads in the city.
The peaceful protest turned violent
when the police, equipped with
state-of-the-art protective gear asked
them to disperse. A skirmish
followed. And then there was a
lathicharge and bursting of tear-gas
shells. Though the fee hike was
revoked, later in the evening, the
blockade continued on day two as
well and more students joined the
strike from other government
colleges in Sikkim. As is the case
with unrest of this kind, the demand
shifted from withdrawing the fee
hike to action against the
Superintendent of Police, Manoj
Tiwari. 'Action' meant different
things to different sections of the
students. Some wanted his dismissal
while others demanded that he
apologise at the same spot where he
ordered the lathicharge.
Though it looked to be a
spontaneous protest, the fact is that
the entire development had to do
with the political culture building
here over the last few months. The
ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF),
after having held all the assembly
seats until May 2014, has now lost
as many as eight out of the ten
constituencies around Gangtok to
the Sikkim Kranthikari Morcha (SKM).
This is a new party, founded only a
year ago and led by PS Golay, a close
aide of SDF supremo, Pawan
Chamling, for several years. Golay
was leading the SDF's student and
youth wing until he fell out.
This explains the involvement of
students as well as a section of the
youth and taxi drivers in organising
the blockade. Many of them had
been under arrest leading the union
to call for a strike.
People are apprehensive of this
unrest and intolerance. However,
this could be an indication of a
maturing democracy with a strong
opposition. This might be the
beginning of a transition from a
culture of monarchy to that of a
democracy. Though these are still
early days!
