After 2 long decades, the All India Conference of SFI is happening in Kerala again. It was in January 2003 that the 12th All India Conference of SFI had happened in Kozhikode and now after 22 years, it is coming back to Kozhikode once again, making this comference a very significant one historically. The 18th All India Conference of SFI will unfold in the Manch named after the former SFI All India President and one of the most revolutionary leaders that the country had seen, Comrade Sitaram Yechury, and former SFI All India General Secretary Comrade Nepaldeb Bhattacharya. The Palestine Solidarity Nagar, in which the conference will take place, stands as a strong testament to SFI’s clear political position. Since its independence, India has recognised Palestine rejected Israel and this position of India was made loud and clear for all the world to see. SFI still upholds this value that India had stood strong by since its independence and this is what makes SFIi different from other organisations that show criminal silence on the question of Palestine. The fight for a free Palestine is inseparable from the fight against imperialism and SFI upholds this value unwaveringly.
When heading towards SFI’s 18th All India Conference happening in Palestine Nagar, we can say without a speck of doubt that the organisation has come miles from where we stood in the 17th All India Conference that happened in Hyderabad. The Covid 19 pandemic was a devastating tragedy that had affected students the most and SFI being the organisation for students and by students,had taken a strong hit but because of the will of our comrades and the strength of our organisation we have persevered and overcome all challenges and is currently blazing forward. The reminder of how far we have come is indeed very inspiring as we head into the conference. Our membership which had decreased to 23 lakhs during the Covid crisis, has risen up to 42 lakhs. During these last few years, we saw that it was SFI activists who had to face the most oppression and targeting in our universities. The brave struggles led by our comrades, including the fight of comrade Ramadas (SFI CEC Member), our activists in Ambedkar University Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Himachal Pradesh, Hyderabad Central University, Pondicherry University and in campuses across the country clearly show how SFI is targetted under this regime and how we are fighting it.
The big crime that the state and the university administration held against comrade Ramadas is that he had raised his voice against the injustices of the government and had joined the Parliament March that united student organisations across the country. The administration, the state and even the courts went so far and even said that scholars receiving fellowship from the government should not speak against the government. But the strong movement led by students on the ground for comrade Ramadas forced the authorities to take back their actions. Similarly, in universities like HCU and PU also, the constant attack on the students and activists are countered with strong movements on the ground. On the land grab issue in HCU, our comrades were even sent to jail but they persevered and the administrationistration had to bow down to the students. In AUD, just after SFI swept the union elections, the administrationistration went on to witchhubt SFI by suspending our comrades for raising voice against ragging in campus. The organisation organised a large movement, fought the admin and won. The constant attacks on SFI in our campuses across the country is a testament to our widespread presence and the authorities’ fear of our strength.
Another great matter of pride for our organisation is the United Students Alliance that SFI was able to initiate and form, bringing together many student organisations across the country, irrespective of their differences, to fight against the central government that is destroying the education system completely by saffronising and privatising it. Huge rallies upholding the ethos of the movement happened in the national capital, Chennai and Kolkata under SFI’s leadership In the last few years, SFI also undertook strong movements for federalism. The attempts by the union govt to overturn the education system in Kerala by using the governor as a pawn of the central govt was met with fierce resistance by SFI Kerala. The movement was so strong that it put to question the position of governorship itself and how it is being used to expand the central govt control over universities through cheap political tricks. Such protests questioning governorship happened in Tamil Nadu and Bengal also. The last few years was a period of such strong movements and struggles in all states, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Across the nation, in elections across campuses, SFI had emerged as a major force during this time period. In many states SFI was able to put up strong fights against anti democratic forces that are trying to attack student movements by stopping student union elections. As we inch closer to the 18th conference we see that we were able to increase and strengthen our units in more new places. It is during the 16th to 17th conference period that we were able to set up SFI UK and Ireland and like that we are increasing the number of our units and strengthening our committees. In the UK and Ireland, comrades were even able to successfully carry out several protests and demonstrations, making it a historic milestone for SFI. In this time period, we were also able to expand our work significantly in states like Gujarat where we did not have a strong presence earlier and also in Kashmir that is riddled with terrorism. We were able to establish OCs even in Goa and Andaman and Nicobar Islands where we previously had no presence. As we move from the 17th to 18th All India Conference, we can confirm without any doubts that SFI is blazing ahead in all its might and growing stronger everyday. The nation is facing more and more challenges and it is evident that SFI will be able to rise above all the challenges, and the discussions and debates in the conference will be a path for taking the movement forward. It has to be remembered that it is during times of struggles that any organisation’s strength and resilience are tested to its core and these challenges should serve as opportunities to strengthen our work and take our movement forward for the students of the country.