Recently, the President of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), Raunak Khatri, affiliated with the Congress-backed student organization NSUI, exhibited extremely inappropriate, indecent, and unacceptable behaviour towards the faculty members of the prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce. This incident has left the academic community, particularly Delhi University, shocked and outraged. Teachers’ associations, including the Shri Ram College of Commerce Teachers’ Association and the Delhi University Teachers’ Association, along with thousands of students and faculty members, have demanded strict action against him.
Raunak Khatri seems determined to establish himself as a new proponent of ‘vigilante justice.’ He engages in such condemnable stunts to boast and gain cheap popularity, turning them into reels and making them viral on social media platforms. He has set a record for such misconduct. The list of incidents involving his misbehavior with faculty members, including the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof Amitava Chakraborty, and professors of Shri Ram College of Commerce, is extensive. His social media accounts are flooded with records of such transgressions. This conduct is highly objectionable, reprehensible, and inexcusable. The university administration must take serious cognizance of such criminal tendencies and clamp down on them; otherwise, this unchecked behavior will become an incurable affliction. In such a violent and intimidating environment, students, faculty, and administrative staff cannot perform their duties with peace of mind.
In a democracy, students’ unions and students’ leaders have always played a crucial role. Students’ unions embody the constructive, organized, and tangible expression of young minds. They have been recognized representatives of the strength and energy of youth. From the freedom movement to Jayaprakash Narayan’s Total Revolution, the anti-Emergency movement, the Ram Temple movement, the agitation led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) against Bangladeshi infiltrators, social justice movements related to reservations, the Tiranga rally to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, and the anti-corruption movement (India Against Corruption) following the Nirbhaya case—students and student unions have played a significant role in every major movement aimed at transforming societal and political establishments. Notably, during the anti-Emergency movement, student unions from Delhi University (DUSU), Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Patna University took the lead. Several prominent leaders, including Arun Jaitley, Vijay Goel, Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, Devi Prasad Tripathi, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sushil Kumar Modi, and Ravi Shankar Prasad, were arrested, and after prolonged struggle and strife, democracy was restored in India.
That was an era when student leaders engaged in constructive politics to reform or change the system. They worked selflessly, beyond personal interests and ambitions, with dedication to social and national causes as well as students’ welfare. They were passionate dreamers, not careerists. Politics was not a career for them. They were well-read and articulate, possessing an in-depth understanding of social and political issues. They did not rely on local moneyed elites or musclemen to win elections. Neither did they need to be dynaststs of political families. They were extraordinary talents born from ordinary students—hardworking, relentless, and deeply influential. As a result, they commanded genuine influence over students, who would rally behind their call.
However, by the turn of the 21st century, mainstream politics became dominated by criminals and wealthy power brokers, and student politics could not remain unaffected. Today, student politics has become a shortcut to mainstream politics, a mere platform for infiltration. All the vices plaguing mainstream politics are now glaringly evident in student politics as well. In fact, it serves as a rehearsal for mainstream politics. It is noteworthy that for the past two to three decades, the position of Delhi University Students’ Union President has been occupied almost exclusively by individuals from the Jat-Gujjar communities. Why is this the case? Is it linked to the rising land prices and property transactions in Delhi’s rural areas? This is a question that warrants reflection.
Winning student union elections today is primarily determined by caste, financial power, and muscle power. Open displays of quid pro quo and fear dominate DUSU elections. The Lyngdoh Committee guidelines are blatantly violated. A race to outdo one another in financial and physical dominance prevails among all student organizations. Candidates or organisations that do not resort to monetary and muscle power are considered weak. The entire electoral system has been structured in such a way that it is nearly impossible to win an election through fair and constructive means. The blame does not rest solely on student leaders. Their organizations, the electoral machinery, and even the voters—students themselves—are equally responsible for this decline. It is disheartening that students show indifference toward evaluating candidates based on their academic competence, oratory skills, understanding of issues, and activism. Today, real students are not engaged in student politics; rather, in most cases, politicians masquerading as students are using student politics as a cover for bullying and hooliganism. It is not difficult to understand that those who are not students in the first place can hardly be expected to engage in student politics in any meaningful sense.
Due to the increasing violence and lawlessness, several state governments and universities have banned student union elections. Notably, this year, the Delhi High Court took serious cognizance of violations of the Lyngdoh Committee guidelines in DUSU elections. However, the actions taken so far have been insufficient. In recent years, it has been observed that elected student leaders in Delhi University have begun abusing faculty members, administrative staff, and officials—hurling abuses, engaging in scuffles, and even resorting to physical assaults. College-level student unions imitate such conduct. No student organization is an exception to this growing menace. Similar incidents had gone viral last year as well.
Universities must not be allowed to become havens for criminal elements. If corrective action is not taken, the day is not far when student leaders will operate with impunity, extorting money and levying. Hostels and guest houses will be unlawfully occupied and turned into dens of mischief. Coercion, harassment, violence, and even murder will become daily occurrences on campus. Such trends have already begun in several universities across the country, leading to a ban on student union elections in those institutions.
The judiciary must take suo motu cognizance of such incidents and initiate stringent action against these criminal elements. Constant monitoring of the election process is necessary. Today, cleansing student politics is an urgent necessity. By making the electoral process more viable, eliminating financial and physical coercion, and ensuring compliance with the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, student politics can once again become constructive and creative. The system must be designed to encourage students who prioritize institutional interests over personal gains to rise to leadership positions in student unions. Student unions should not become training grounds for the vices of mainstream politics. If we fail to curb such incidents and tendencies, we will be complicit in this crime.
In prestigious foreign institutions such as Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Liverpool, and the London School of Economics, student unions play highly commendable and constructive roles. The Students’ Guild at the University of Liverpool serves as an exemplary model of student politics. These unions are dedicated and proactive in academic, cultural, sports activities, and overall campus betterment. Similar examples can be found in many other foreign universities. Such responsible student representatives, committed to institutional welfare, contribute to a healthy and mature democracy.
Why are student leaders in Indian universities, who tarnish student politics in their pursuit of political careers, failing not only in their examinations but also in mainstream politics? They must engage in deep introspection on this issue.
