Bhagat Singh Student Union Platform Interviewed by Yeni Demokrasi
Featured image: bsCEM logo. Source: Our collage
On August 30, Yeni Demokrasi published an interview with Bhagat Singh Student Union Platform (bsCEM), in which they broached topics such as the repression the bsCEM has faced from the old State of India, and the Cockroach movement protests.
In the interview the bsCEM introduces itself as a student organization based at the Delhi University, adhering to “the revolutionary ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.” They do not limit themselves to solely organizing at the university, but aim to work with the working masses of India – they organize protests, study circles, street theater, cultural nights and distribute leaflets as part of their activities on campus.
The bsCEM states that “through the course of our political practise, we have faced continuous surveillance by the state, detentions, arrests, and even abductions and torture” by the old State of India.
To a question inquiring about the recent Cockroach movement protests, the bsCEM elaborates on the movement that originated after statements of India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant characterized unemployed youth and activists as “cockroaches”. A social media account named “Cockroach Janta Party” was created in response and garnered a large following, going on to mobilize huge protests which faced heavy repression by the old State forces. They also mention the hunger strikes started by Sonam Wangchuk. The protests ultimately led to the resignation of the Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
bsCEM characterizes the demonstrations as largely unstructured and unorganized, and the tactics of indefinite sit-ins and hunger strikes as lacking in revolutionary character, making the mistake of appealing to the consciousness of the old Indian State. BsCEM also points out that Sonam Wangchuk has previously supported the RSS-BJP. bsCEM states that the main problem of the demonstrations are to be found in the class character of its leadership: “The petty bourgeois leadership of the CJP promoted a “false consciousness”, a “peaceful” protest as the perfect means of dissent, and when the
spontaneous militancy occurred, it distanced itself clearly from it.”
The bsCEM also draws parallels to youth movements that have emerged in full force throughout semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Morocco, the Philippines, Turkey and Peru, connecting the movements to the deepening of the global crisis of imperialism. They write “youth-led movements are increasingly emerging as an expression of deepening economic and political contradictions. While the Generation Z uprising in Nepal and the uprising in Bangladesh may have revolved around different immediate issues, they exhibit a common pattern: unemployment, underemployment, rising cost of living, inequality, corruption, and political repression… These create conditions under which relatively limited discontent can transform into broader mass movements.”
You can read the full interview on Yeni Demokrasi:
