In U-Turn, Vijay Government Withdraws Order Barring Students From Protesting

The Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department has withdrawn a controversial circular that directed government colleges to work with the police and district administration to prevent students from participating in protests and agitations organised by political parties.

The withdrawal came today, two days after the circular was issued and amid strong opposition from the Students' Federation of India (SFI), which had announced a protest outside the Directorate of Collegiate Education in Chennai today demanding that the order be revoked.

The Directorate of Collegiate Education had issued the original circular on August 17, referring to the participation of students and youth in protests and agitations. It called for coordinated action by the Higher Education Department, police and district administration to prevent students from participating in such protests and to monitor their involvement.

The circular specifically referred to protests conducted by Left parties and the Tamil Nadu Cockroach Janata Party.

In a key passage, the department said a "coordinated mechanism" involving the Higher Education Department, police and district administration had been proposed to prevent students from participating in such protests.

It also said the proposed mechanism was intended to be implemented jointly by the authorities.

However, a fresh circular issued by the Joint Director of Collegiate Education on Wednesday formally withdrew the August 17 communication.

The latest order, referring to the earlier circular, states: "The office letter referred to above is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect."

The development came after SFI announced that its Chennai district unit would lay siege to the Directorate of Collegiate Education on Wednesday, under the slogan: "Is the political participation of students being monitored and suppressed? SFI condemns the TVK government for attempting to take away students' political rights."

SFI welcomed the withdrawal as a victory for students' democratic rights.

"Students expressing political views and participating in democratic protests are part of their democratic rights," the organisation said in a statement.

It questioned the rationale behind bringing together the education department, police and district administration to monitor students' participation in political protests.

"Students are not objects of government surveillance; they are active citizens of a democracy," SFI said.

The organisation, however, said the withdrawal alone was not sufficient and demanded an explanation from the Tamil Nadu government on why the original circular had been issued.

SFI asked what incident had prompted the order, who had instructed the department to issue it and why there was a need to monitor students' political participation. It demanded a transparent explanation from the Higher Education Minister and Chief Minister Vijay.

SFI also drew a distinction between political participation and unlawful activity, saying the government was entitled to take action against individuals if they violated the law. But, it said, participation in political protests should not itself be treated as an offence.

"Students should not be threatened for holding political views or participating in peaceful protests," the organisation said.

The students' body also warned that it would oppose any future attempt to use the administrative machinery to monitor or restrict students' political participation.

Calling the withdrawal a result of its protest announcement, SFI said the development was not merely a victory for the organisation but a "democratic victory" demonstrating that students could question the government and administration when they united to defend their rights.

The withdrawal comes at a time the youngsters driven protests by the Cockroach Janta Party over irregularities and leakage of NEET question paper had led to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The ruling TVK and the state Higher Education Minister are yet to respond.