POLITICAL SCENARIO & STUDENT ORGANISATION IN ASSAM

POLITICAL SCENARIO & STUDENT ORGANISATION:
16th March; 2011

Talk about students' politics in Assam and the first name that crops up in everybody's mind is All Assam Students' Union (Aasu) and the six-year agitation it led against illegal immigrants between 1979 and 1985. It's not only that Aasu went on to become a force to reckon with in every Assamese household, the struggle that it spearheaded is still considered one of the most vigorous mass movements in the country after 1947.

Despite the merciless butchery of over 2,000 Bengali-speaking Muslims in Nellie during the height of the Assam Agitation in 1983, Aasu managed to force the then state government to identify and expel the illegal migrants following the signing of Assam Accord in 1985. The students' union, finally, turned out to be the cradle of the largest regional party in the state, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which swept the 1985 assembly elections and formed the government in Dispur.

Over two decades have passed since then, and Assam has seen several other students' organizations such as the All Bodo Students' Union (Absu), which launched the Bodoland movement, and the Assam Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (Akrsu) that is fighting for restoration of peace in the region. Besides, there are organizations like the All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam (Aasa) and the Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association (Attsa) fighting for Scheduled Tribe status for the communities that they represent.

However, the movements by ABSU, AKRSU, AASA and ATTSA have rarely reached the height of the Assam Agitation. The students of Assam once known for their active involvement in the state's socio-political domain are seemingly shying away from politics, to be more precise from politicians. And they blame the rising trend of vote-bank politics for this. Fed up with the "false promises" made by politicians irrespective of their political colours during every elections, they want voters to use their democratic power more wisely. Their message is loud and clear: "Don't vote for parties. Cast your ballots in favour of candidates who deserve to be in the corridors of power."