Disagreement on whether the Narendra Modi-led government can be termed a fascist regime has fractured the Left bloc, which has led the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) for nine years, ahead of the varsity elections.
JNUSU polls are preceded by general body meetings of students in their respective schools where conveners’ reports are presented and voted upon. These are seen as votes of confidence on the work of the convener and the approval of the policies of the organisations they represent.
The report of CPM-backed SFI’s Dipanjan Mandal, convener of the JNUSU in the School of Social Sciences, was defeated with 119-80 votes with 168 abstentions. In the section on the national situation, the word fascism was not even mentioned once in Mandal's report.
The RSS-backed ABVP, which is the main Opposition in the JNUSU, said this “reflects the growing influence of nationalist voices on campus”.
CPIML-Liberation’s AISA said: “Any laxity in calling out the fascist nature of the current Modi regime will not be able to galvanise the pro-democratic sentiments of the campus…. The nexus of this faculty-administration-ABVP has managed to put up a considerable strength that was otherwise unimaginable even a few years ago. It will be a historical mistake on the part of the Left and progressive forces if we miss to fathom the depth of this threat because of our narrow sectarian approach.”
Highlighting its disagreements with the SFI over an agitation last month, AISA added: “The reason for such a misadventure lies in the diluted formulation and understanding of RSS-ABVP by SFI, which has simplistically labelled the RSS regime and its Hindutva project — backed by the corporate state — as possessing 'neo-fascist tendencies'…. What is ironical is, Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA), which has for long considered the Left as its primary enemy, has sided with SFI in its problematic understanding of the present regime”.
The AISA counted itself and the Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF) as among those who abstained.
Disagreements between the CPM and the CPIML-Liberation have brewed over the past month over the former’s recently adopted political resolution that described the Modi government as displaying “neo-fascist characteristics”. CPIML-Liberation and the CPI believe that the BJP-led Centre is not merely displaying such characteristics but is practising fascism.
JNUSU vice-president Avijit Ghosh of the SFI told The Telegraph: “For the polls, a broader alliance with the idea to defeat ABVP is our objective, forming larger progressive unity. In the SSS general body meeting, the total number of votes that were not against the resolution (in support of the resolution or abstentions) is more than those against the resolution. This shows that progressive forces are in majority.”
He said the RSS-BJP-ABVP were "neo-fascist forces" which drew their ideology from Mussolini and Hitler. "The current BJP-RSS regime is continually expressing these neo-fascist tendencies... (which) must be unitedly resisted by all progressive forces," he added.
Sources in the DSF and the SFI said such disagreements weren't new and the Left bloc had stuck together despite them.
JNUSU joint secretary Mo Sajid of the CPI's student arm AISF said: “We believe that fascism is in place, but the convener's report has many other points that all of us agree upon. We can’t reject it merely for a word.”
After the CPM issued a note to its state units on the use of the term “neo-fascism”, CPIML-Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said in an essay: “Paraphrasing the famous Bob Dylan song we may say 'how much more damage must we all suffer before we call them fascists'…. One can understand the political and electoral complexities of Kerala and West Bengal, historically the strongest bastions of the CPI(M), and can only hope that the CPI(M)'s dilemma in identifying and naming the advent of fascism is not informed by the immediate electoral circumstances faced by the party in these two states”.
JNUSU sources said this sparked off the tiff within the union.
The AISA won the JNUSU president’s post from the SFI in 2006 and held it until 2019. It aligned with its rival SFI in 2016 after a police crackdown on alleged sedition on campus. The SFI won the president’s post in 2019 in alliance with the AISA, which took over the post last year. The DSF and the AISF are part of the ruling alliance that holds three out of four main posts. Priyanshi Arya of BAPSA is general secretary.
After disagreements during an agitation on hostel rooms and polls last month — the AISA on one side, and the SFI, AISF and BAPSA on the other had carried out parallel stirs.