Everyday oppression, timeless tactics of an autocratic state

The events at Jadavpur University (JU) have once again brought to the fore the violent order of the state that dominates everyday life in West Bengal: a state notorious for embracing political violence with every party maintaining its own set of 'goons' and politicising university campuses for their political survival. On September 16, I was present at the site of protest in JU when policemen, goons and an unidentified special force lathicharged students and molested undergraduate girls. I too was beaten. State-sponsored violence is a universal phenomenon; such efforts are once again underway in JU to derail the focus from the issue at hand — in this case, gender justice.

After repeated stonewalling by the VC and the executive council — and no progress on our demands to set up an independent and unbiased committee to oversee the proceedings in the sexual molestation case — after hearing from the VC that he was "taking care" of the 10 accused boys — we decided to take to the path of peaceful agitation. We demanded a definite road-map for action against the guilty. We were armed with violins and guitars, when the violence began. The stories are shocking. One girl described imprints of nails on her breasts, huge muscular men stamped upon another girl’s groin, while another boy ended up in the ICU. I remember carrying a boy who had passed out, to a water tank. With the lights strategically switched off, we could not even see the perpetrators. 

Consider how the state responded to the mayhem: 
First, they said that many people who were beaten were 'outsiders'. I myself am an 'outsider', since I study in Presidency University, but I believe I have every right to peacefully demonstrate in Jadavpur University — primarily because gender violence concerns us all. Many students who were present at the site of agitation that night do not even consider themselves a part of any political organisation. Many do not participate in 'active politics'. Can a citizen not stand up against gender violence without being 'politically motivated' to do so? Is gender violence within a premier institute of higher learning not sufficient cause for protest? 

Second, the VC has also blamed the molestation, on 'indiscipline' and 'drug abuse'. He claims that putting up CCTVs and checking 'unsocial friendships' between boys and girls will put an end to sexual harassment. This appears to be another tried and tested tactic to derail the issue at hand — to claim that certain 'anti-social' activities cause gender violence. This is one step short of claiming that the dress and clothes of the survivor caused her to be violated. This approach places the solution to gender violence at odds with fundamental human rights, and normalises patriarchy within institutions.

Third, in the footsteps of the CPM, the TMC government has branded us all Maoists and Naxalites. They have tried to side-step the entire issue of gender violence, describing this movement that drew more than 70,000 students, schoolchildren, parents and teachers to the streets on September 20, politically motivated. This is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee displayed such autocratic tendencies. The movement's chief slogan, #hokkolorob, which literally means 'let there be noise’, does not draw from Marxist-Leninist tactics, but from the enormous rage and anger that has built up within students all around India. Protests in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore reveal the unifying thread of the movement. 

How can the VC protect the accused and how can the police molest and beat unarmed people protesting molestation? We claim to be a democracy but it is through everyday violence that the State operates at will.

The writer is a student of Economics at Presidency University, Kolkata