Think of a situation where you are experimenting in the science lab and you are just about to complete it when your science teacher comes in, frowns at you and asks you whether the earth is cubical or spherical?
You answer the obvious but your teacher tells you to shut up because the earth is cubical. You’ll be perplexed as your teacher contradicts what he taught himself.
Isn’t it a very weird and confusing situation when you are said not to follow the same principles you were taught your entire student life?
This is exactly what is happening with law students. Recently, we have witnessed various protests in prominent law institutes like
- Hidayatullah National Law University,
- Chanakya National Law University,
- National Law University Bhopal,
- Amity Law School, Delhi
And the latest addition to this list is the Army Institute of Law, Mohali.
It is pertinent to mention here that these strikes and protests have got a fair share of the limelight, thanks to the repute the names of these colleges carry. The situations in small colleges mostly go unnoticed.
Let’s take a look at the reasons behind these widespread protests.
1. Institutional Inefficiency And Arbitrariness
Institutional inefficiency and arbitrary practices have never gone well with college students, specifically law students. By institutional inefficiency, we mean the standard of faculty and staff members and their relationship with the students.
The fact that law students do not always get the best faculty members is something that is no secret. And as far as the administrative staff is concerned, they are the people who have day-to-day non-academic interaction with the students and ideally should have a cordial relationship with each other.
However, the administrative members and students seldom have a cool relationship and one reason behind it is the arbitrary practices undertaken by the staff members.
It may so happen that the decisions taken by the administrative staff for the students outrage them and an example of the same can be moral policing.
While the law students are taught ideas like non-discrimination, open-minded approach and strength to stand against the wrongdoings, these practices are the antithesis to these ideas.
When the pleas of the students go unheard, students smell arbitrariness in practices and resort to protests to make their point loud and clear.
Read Also: Amity Law School, Delhi De-Affiliated From Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
2. Fee Hikes
Fee hikes have not only affected the law students but the students of all colleges. Recently in my college, my seniors had to pay arrears of around Rs. 40,000 after a sudden notice, during the summer vacation.
Some students found it difficult to arrange such an amount, that too when the annual fee was due to be paid within 30 days from the notification.
The same problem is faced by a lot of students and when even after paying the exuberant amounts of fee, the students have to suffer at multiple levels; the agony comes out as protests and campaigns against college authorities.
3. Hostel Problems
Mess food is infamous to be no less than a mess, without any taste and if you live in a hostel room, you are likely not to feel alone even when your roommate is not around, thanks to your visible-only-at-night roommate, the rodent.
All these things give no comfort to students, and when they have to come back to the same room to study for the entire night, the level of frustration is unimaginable.
Despite repeated efforts to reach out to wardens and authorities, when students get no replies and redressal, they undertake violent and non-violent methods to ensure that their demands are heard not only by authorities but also by the public at large.
4. Awareness Among Students
It is obvious that when law students are taught the basic principles of law in the classroom, they are aware of their legal and constitutional rights and do not hesitate from getting them enforced from judicial authorities and forums.
Apart from the above, there are various other reasons because of which law students conduct protests which vary from college to college.
However, it is not a good trend since the functioning of the college and the completion, of course, are affected and thus, the students should refrain from strikes and should try to sort the issues with harmony.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: Bar & Bench, The Quint, Live Law
Find The Blogger At: @innocentlysane
