Communists disturb authorities

The educational authorities in India are greatly perturbed over the increasing use of "gherao" by the student community to get their demands accepted by college and governmental authorities.

"Gherao" is a new tactic used by Communist-dominated trade unions in the state of West Bengal to solve industrial problems.

Literally, "gherao" means illegal confinement of employers and senior industrial staff by labour till their demands are accepted. In many cases, employers and senior industrial staff were confined to factories for 48 to 72 hours without food and water.

Picking up this easy method, students of the Nagpur University in central India confined the principal of a local college in his car and prevented him from announcing the decision to increase college fees from the new academic year.

According to reports, as soon as the principal arrived in his car at the appointed place to address a press con-ference regarding the fee rise, about 50 students, led by the Secretary of the Nagpur University Students Union (an affiliate of the National Council of University Students of India—Ncusi), surrounded his car shouting slogans against the proposed fee rise and waved black flags. The principal remained confined in his car for 45 minutes. The "gherao" was lifted only when he promised to return home.

In another incident, a professor of the Orissa University of Agriculture in the eastern state of India and a faculty dean were "forcibly" locked up in their respective rooms for about four hours by certain students to press for the acceptance of their demands. The two educationists were released by the Vice-Chancellor of the university when he opened the doors with the help of duplicate keys.

The students were demanding that only degree holders in basic sciences of veterinary and animal husbandry should be appointed teachers in any department of the university.

According to reliable reports the two teachers were requested by about 70 students to come out of a staff meeting for a few minutes for discussions. As they came out they were "forcibly" taken away to their respective rooms in the colleges and locked up. The students then fled away with keys and did not come back.

These are only two instances where the students' demands were relatively unimportant. What worries educational authorities in India is that if these tactics are used widely to solve major issues and to force the authorities to accept student demands, a serious situation may arise.