Challenges to the democracy – student’s role will bring a change

Challenges to the democracy – student’s role will bring a change

The movement ignited by Chennai Loyola College students has penetrated into the minds of the socially aware students across Tamilnadu. For the last 10 days, it has created a sense of awareness among the students, resulting in hunger strikes, protests and signature campaigns to mount pressure on India to vote against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council meet in Geneva later this month. The simmering anger in the minds of the people of Tamilnadu and the students, youth at large has come out openly like the two occasions the country has witnessed in the history of Tamilnadu. One is during 1960’s against the imposition of Hindi and the other is during 1980’s student’s movement against Srilankan governments, non-democratic heinous crimes and atrocities against its own Tamil population, youth, children and women. 

The genocide of innocent Tamil people of Srilanka, the govt and army unleashed the human rights violations were brought out to the world by the revelations of Channel 4 news from London. It had made the world of nations to stand up and focus their attention against the SriLanka and has come out openly to condemn the human rights violations and the non-democratic functioning of the Srilanka and to abide by their commitment to 13+ amendment and bring the necessary impetus force to implement The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report.

When the comity of nations had woken up now, people in the helm of affairs in the India is still sleeping or pretend to follow as if they doesn’t know the ground realities in Srilanka. Even after the elected Tamilnadu Government has enacted a resolution in the State Legislative Assembly for imposing economic sanctions against Srilanka, even after the TESO had petitioned UN authorities and met several central leaders to vote against Srilanka in favour of USA’s resolution against Srilanka, even after many leaders from Tamilnadu and other national level and other state level leaders came forward in support of USA’s resolution against Srilanka, it is pathetic to see the challenges of democracy in our country that students had to come out to streets to press for the genuine cause of restoring the democracy in the neighbouring Srilanka and to bring justice to the genocide and human rights violations in the international court of law.

At least in India, particularly in Tamilnadu, what the impact the May 2009 genocide couldn’t create, had been now created by the innocent boy Balachandran’s killing by the Srilankan Army among the student community in Tamilnadu. It is a welcome development in democracy, after 30 years, the students have come out openly adopting the democratic methods to press for their democratic demands to restore the democracy in Srilanka.

The challenges to the democracy in the world are: Foundational challenges, challenge of expansion and challenges of deepening. All the three challenges are applicable and are witnessed in the history of Srilanka for the last 6 decades.  That means, successive Srilankan’s governments have adopted the means and methods which have created the challenges to the very existence of democracy in the vicinity of one of the largest democratic nation of the world, where the democracy is successfully practiced for the last 6 decades. It is not good for India to remain in silent and to become a mere witness to the challenges of democracy in its neighbouring country. It has every right to bring it to the notice of international forum and to support any such action or movement to restore the democratic values and deepen the democratic institutions in our neighbouring nation. The challenges of democratic expansion have not reached to the Srilankan native Tamils for the last 6 decades because the Srilankan government itself has challenged the very foundation of democratic principles.

Hence it is absolutely right for the student community to voice their opinion to restore the democracy through number of democratic ways. It will pick up accelerated momentum if the Engineering Colleges, Medical Colleges, Business School and other students in Tamilnadu and other states also join the movement to press for a particular cause of bringing democracy to the neighbouring nation.

It will become a historic student movement, which will ultimately ensure by the international community that nowhere in the world such a war crime will get repeated again like Srilanka, nowhere in the world such a heinous human rights violations will ever get repeated and finally restore the democracy in Srilanka or otherwise Tamil Ellam in Srilanka.It is my personal opinion to the student community.

V PONRAJ