Disclaimer: Originally published in August 2019. It is being republished since it still remains an interesting topic till today.
There are very few things in life that anger me. And being a college student, mindless rebels in our fraternity anger me.
Without any useless rhetoric, I will share a few case studies from my personal life which gave me a reason to write this article. To all the students out there reading this article, this has nothing to do with dissing your causes for rebel. But I believe that a righteous mind is better than a rebellious mind.
Sometimes it does take a rebellion to get your rights and get your voice heard by the people in power. Just that it is better to know what you are rebelling for and then proceed because a rebellion without knowing the cause well is a recipe for our country’s destruction.
A Few Case Studies
I got into an argument with a junior who came up to me and said, “I hate Modi. Modi is the worst.” When asked why, she said, “I just hate him.” Now, I’m not supporting Modi, and I’m not against disliking him (when it calls for it) either. That is something up to the discretion of an individual. But I’m definitely against dissing your own Prime Minister without a reason.
In 2016, students of JNU, Delhi organized a protest march against “Judicial Killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat.” Who are these two men exactly? Convicts of the attack on the Parliament. A protest march for them? Why?
Burhan Wani, the commander of an Islamic militant group based in Kashmir was taken down by the security forces in July 2016. A curfew was imposed due to people protesting the death of this man. Please read that again.
People were protesting the death of a militant commander. Many of these protesters were students. They even compared Burhan Wani to Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
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In 2018, CRPF had no choice but to open fire with live ammunition and pellets on a crowd trying to help the militants they had captured, escape from custody. CRPF is a highly reputed security force of India and they very well know how to do their job.
This incident took place in Pulwama and a teen student was killed in this action, because he was a part of the mob that was attacking CRPF vehicles. Why do students have to leave one job they have of studying well and participate in mobs trying to help militants escape?
We Are Educated, But Do We Behave Educated?
Knowing a lot of international brands, English songs and partying in expensive places does not show your status of education. Your status of education is shown in your achievements and your actions.
Studying so well in colleges for several years, we are supposed to have a better thought process than just giving into heated rumours and join protests about which we fully do not know.
There is an entire article on “The Wire” called “Why Educated Kashmiri Youth Continue to Join Militancy”. I say it is a shame that we forget our primary objective as students and fall prey to the political ridicule of India.
If you want your voice to be heard and if you have a genuine reason to speak up, write about it and do it in an organized, civilized and educated manner instead of throwing stones and petrol bottles at your own army and police forces.
My anger is not about students. My anger is about the decisions we make as students.
The echoes of slogans “Hum leke rahenge aazaadi” from the JNU campus still lingers in our ears. How many times does a country attain independence? Once it happened in 1947. Now again in 2016 and 2018? Maybe we will have it again in 2025.
Someone wants freedom in Delhi, and someone wants freedom in Kashmir. The real freedom needed is freedom from the rally of useless thoughts and senseless rebellions that we are all indulged in.
Protests for lack of medical facilities, against capital punishments, unreasonable fee hikes are some genuine reasons. But protesting for terrorists and militants is a rather vague decision students in India are making and this has now become a very dangerous trend.
Reiterating – it is better to have a righteous mind, and then resort to rebellion than having a rebellious mind and rebelling without understanding the cause.
Sources: The Wire, Firstpost, Telegraph India
Image Source: Google Images
Connect With The Blogger: @som_beingme
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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Very Good one Somnath !!
Really Thought provoking.
Cheers.
Kishore Sir
hi well i read your article. i find it half baked as you haven’t tried to make it sensible enough by mentioning the incident thoroughly and the cause behind it, you also didnt reveal the full series of arrest of JN students mind you they are just students…didnt bother to produce in fair light and understand the other side of the argument about the topic your article is based on hence, you seemed bias.