Photo by Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Hundreds of students and young people from across the country turned out onto the streets in the national capital on February 7, 2019, to demand employment and educational opportunities from the government. The ‘Young India Adhikar’ march was a joint effort of students’ unions and youth organizations from various states in which they marched from the Red Fort to Parliament Street. It was led by some students from Jawaharlal Nehru University and the All India Students’ Association and Revolutionary Youth Association.
Youth leaders like former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, Jignesh Mevani, DMK leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi Kanimozhi and other student leaders from AAP and Samajwadi Party who have always been vocal against government’s policies made an appeal to vote out the BJP-led government for “breaking promises of students”.
“The PM has done nothing but campaign for the past five years. His talk time is getting over and they want to recharge it for another five years,” said Kanhaiya Kumar.
As the young protesters walked around four km to assemble in front of the Parliament, slogans like “Chowkidaar chor hai” filled the air. Also building on the dialogue “How’s the Josh?” from the recent film Uri, in a satirical manner, they shouted, “How’s the job?”.
The march was an eclectic fusion of participants from different states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Punjab, and Assam. Following is the list of the demands raised by the students :
- Filling up all government vacancies.
- Spend India’s 10% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) on education
- Full implementation of reservations for backward groups
- Put an end to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in higher education
- Getting rid of the stranglehold that the ‘Hindutva forces’ have on both higher and lower education
- An end to the policy of fund and seat cuts in the educational institutions
For the first time, the anger and frustration of the youth manifested out on the streets of New Delhi. And the march was an attempt to strongly showcase their plight in the country which boasts about its rich demographic dividend.
However, students of Jamia Millia Islamia stayed away from the march as it did not include their demand to trace Najeeb Ahmed, the JNU student who went missing in October 2016.
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