The history of student movements in India is a compelling narrative of youthful idealism, political awakening, and social transformation. From the throes of colonial rule to contemporary university campuses, student voices have consistently challenged injustice, shaped public discourse, and occasionally shaken governments. The recent brutal suppression of peaceful protests at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar, underscores the continued relevance—and repression—of student activism, especially in the absence of institutional safeguards like elected student unions.
The Genesis: Student Movements in Pre-Independence India
The roots of student activism in India can be traced back to the early 20th century, particularly during the Swadeshi Movement (1905-1908), which saw widespread participation from students across Bengal and Maharashtra. They boycotted British educational institutions, led picketing drives, and spread nationalist ideas. By the 1920s and 1930s, students had become an integral part of the Indian National Congress-led freedom movement, participating in Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, and Quit India Movements.
Leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia, Inderjeet Gupt, and many others emerged from student activism. The All India Students Federation (AISF), formed in 1936, and other regional bodies became platforms for organized resistance, mobilizing thousands against British rule.
Post-Independence: Idealism, Protest, and Political Awakening
After 1947, student movements evolved from anti-colonial resistance to addressing issues like education reform, unemployment, corruption, and socio-economic inequality. The 1960s and 70s witnessed a surge in student-led agitations, particularly in Bihar, Gujarat, and Delhi, where they challenged state apathy and authoritarian tendencies. These movements were no longer just about campuses—they became launchpads for broader political and social change. Students unions were at fore front for the opposition to
1. Emergency (1975–77), many student leaders arrested, done underground work, many youth leaders detained, later became political icons.
2. JP Movement (1974): Spread to Haryana, catalyzing youth and students to enter active politics.
3. Mandal Commission Protests (1990s), students voices supported social justice, stood against anti-reservation agitations.
4. Anti-Globalization, WTO & Education Privatization: Strong campaigns in campuses like JNU, DU, HCU. Resistance to Authoritarianism: Consistent voice against sedition laws, misuse of UAPA, and curbing of dissent.
Prominent Student Leaders in Indian Politics (Post-Independence to Present)
Name | Student Organization / Ideology | Role in Student Movement | Later Political Role |
Sitaram Yechury | SFI | JNUSU President, 1970s | General Secretary, CPI(M) |
Prakash Karat | SFI | JNUSU leader | Former Gen. Secy., CPI(M) |
Indrajit Gupta | AISF | National AISF leader | Union Home Minister |
D. Raja | AISF | AISF leader in Tamil Nadu | General Secretary, CPI |
Kanhaiya Kumar | AISF | JNUSU President, 2016; charged in sedition case | Congress leader, Lok Sabha candidate |
Shehla Rashid | AISA | JNUSU Vice President | Former politician; civil rights activist |
Umar Khalid | DSU / Radical Left | JNU activist, tribal rights voice | Activist; under trial in Delhi riots case |
Kavita Krishnan | AISA | JNU activist, women’s rights campaigner | Politburo member, CPI(ML) (till 2023) |
Anand Teltumbde | Ambedkarite-Left Intellectual | Academic, supported student/tribal resistance movements | Public intellectual; arrested in Bhima-Koregaon case |
Arun Jaitley | ABVP | DUSU President, 1974; Emergency detainee | Finance & Defence Minister (BJP) |
Vijay Goyal | ABVP | DUSU President, 1977; Emergency detainee | Central Minister |
Rekha Gupta | ABVP | DUSU President, 1996 | Delhi Chief Minister |
Alka Lamba | NSUI | DUSU President, 1995 | Congress leader |
Anand Kumar | AISA/ Socialist | JNU student leader, Mandal Commission protests | AAP co-founder, Sociologist |
The Emergency (1975–77) imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi marked a turning point. With civil liberties suspended and political dissent brutally suppressed, universities turned into resistance hubs. Student unions across the country, particularly in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi University, and Patna University, played a key role in resisting authoritarianism. HAU, Hisar in Haryana was the epicentre of anti-emergency upsurge and its student leaders Inderjeet Singh and Mahbir Narwal were imprisoned for 18 months during emergency. Another prominent student leaders were Prithvi Singh Gorkhpuria and his peer Krishan Swaroop led the students in Kurukshetra University.
Student Movements in Haryana: The HAU Chapter
Haryana too witnessed waves of student activism, particularly at CCS Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar. During the Emergency, HAU students played a courageous role in voicing dissent. Despite censorship and fear, student unions became nuclei of underground resistance, organizing rallies, pamphlet campaigns, and secret meetings. Inderjeet Singh and Mahavir Narwal were imprisoned for 18 months during emergency. After their release from jail on revocation of emergency, they built a movement in the campus for elected students’ union and Inderjeet Singh was the first elected President of HAU Students’ Union.
The student movement was all inclusive and encouraged other students leaders to work for the welfare and for genuine demands of the students ranging from job to students, fair mess rates, scholarship, recruitment of scientists and professors from the eligible students who completed their degrees, opposed to political intervention in the students cause, to safeguard the dignity and equity of girls students in campus and other day to day issues affecting the student community at a whole. Although students were organized in big and small groups and fought the elections on their charter of demands but once the election was over, an amazing camaraderie and cooperation has been a distinct feature of the campus. The all groups whether in elected union or not,join hands and come together for the common issues affecting the students.
Prominent student leaders bred by this university apart from Inderjeet Singh and Mahbir Narwal were, Phool Singh Sheokand who later led the state employees of Haryana and now a leader of Kisan Sabha, OP Sihag who is now district President of JJP, Virender Malik who is a prominent leader of laborers, Naresh Yadav who had been a MLA in 2014-2019 from Ateli and now deceased, Rajender Sharma who organised the unemployed youths of Haryana and now deceased, Bijender Sharma who is an executive in a Corporation and his pains and sense belonging drawn him to students to standby with them and guide and support in the present day strife amongst students against atrocities on innocent students.
Besides the elected students leaders, many other student leaders have shown their grit and resilience for students cause during their stay in campus, played crucial and proactive contribution for the cause of students. It is a fact that its not the leader but force of people behind him is the deciding factor. Unfortunately, election of the students councils disbanded in year 1996 and since then students are a harried lot, made victims of the hegemony of administration. Students lost their voice for their genuine concerns, demands and issues not only in HAU but in all universities and colleges of Haryana.
Once an epicenter of students politics for relevant and cognitive demands of students and carried an enormous respect and acceptability in society, is now cursed to face the different many onslaughts and there is no way to oppose that. Interestingly, the students of pre-1996 time who were either sleeping cells or secretly aligned with the administration in their students days, are now donning the key positions of Directors, Deans, Registrars and Vice Chancellor of the university. This sycophant lot is the real brain behind the curb of rights, genuine demands and culling the voice of the students.
HAU’s Students’ Union elections were once fiercely contested and deeply political, often reflecting broader ideological currents. These unions were not merely ceremonial bodies—they negotiated hostel issues, raised demands on scholarships, curriculum reforms, and represented student interests during faculty-administration conflicts. Over the decades, many of HAU’s student leaders went on to play significant roles in state politics, bureaucracy, and public service.
The Role of Elected Student Unions
Elected student unions served as a democratic bridge between the student body and the university administration. Their presence helped resolve issues peacefully, provided legitimacy to student grievances, and prevented radicalization. They offered leadership opportunities and created mechanisms for accountability.
The decline and eventual suspension of student union elections in many universities—including HAU—led to a democratic vacuum. With students denied formal representation, frustrations have found expression through ad hoc protests, often misinterpreted as unrest or indiscipline. The absence of recognized leadership has made negotiations difficult, often leading to conflict and police action.
JNU and Northern India: Nurturing Ideas, Challenging Power
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) represents a unique model of ideological engagement and activism. From opposing the Emergency to fighting caste discrimination and neo-liberal policies, JNU’s students have shaped national conversations. Their slogans—“Azadi”, “Inquilab Zindabad”—echoed not just on campus but in parliament and courts.
Universities like Allahabad, Delhi, Punjab, and Banaras Hindu University also became hotbeds of student politics, with alumni rising to positions of prominence. Leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Arun Jaitley, Sushil Modi, and Kanhaiya Kumar started their journeys from student elections and protests, eventually shaping mainstream politics.
The Mandal Commission Protests: A Dark Chapter
The implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations in 1990—reserving jobs for Other Backward Classes (OBCs)—triggered massive student protests, especially in northern India. The movement turned violent, with tragic incidents of self-immolation and police brutality. While the protests reflected real anxieties about merit and opportunity, they also exposed deep societal divisions.
This movement, and its brutal fallout, marked both the potential and peril of student mobilization when unaddressed grievances intersect with identity politics and given an excuse in the hands of governments to do away with elections of students councils.
2025: The HAU Crackdown and the Crisis of Campus Democracy
On June 10, 2025, CCS HAU Hisar witnessed a shameful act of violence when university security guards—allegedly under the direction of DSW ML Khichar, Radhey Shyam, a teacher, and Security Officer Sukhbir—assaulted peaceful students protesting the suspension of scholarships for meritorious students scoring above 75%. The protest had been calm, resolute, and grounded in genuine grievance.
The university’s response—authoritarian, opaque, and violent—has drawn widespread outrage. Former student leaders like O.P. Sihag, Phool Singh Sheokand, Virender Malik, Ashok Malik, and Bijender Sharma rushed to support the protesters. Besides it, alumni of HAU shown anguish, anger and condemn the atrocities and the alumni in different parts of state and nation are raising their voice against this brutality and motivating their peers to come forward to save the dignity and prestige of the HAU. A clarion call is vividly heard on the social media and other platforms.Their solidarity highlighted the deep inter-generational commitment to student rights. But it also exposed a tragic irony: some of their contemporaries, once fellow activists, now stand with an administration accused of crushing student voices.
Despite an FIR, the administration remains unmoved. Students continue their sit-in at Gate No. 4 under the unforgiving June sun, standing for a principle: that scholarships for excellence are a right, not a favor.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The crackdown at HAU is not just an isolated incident—it is a symptom of a broader erosion of democratic space within universities. The absence of elected student unions has created an environment where dissent is criminalized rather than channeled, where administration answers to power but not to people.
What is urgently required is:
The incidents of brutality and security excesses on HAU (Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University) students on 10 June have stirred strong public reaction, raising questions on student rights, university autonomy, police overreach, and grievance redressal mechanisms. In the aftermath, a constructive and rights-based resolution framework is essential to address student demands and restore institutional harmony.
1. Judicial/High-Level Inquiry: A judicial inquiry or magisterial probe to be initiated by the state government. Time-bound submission of report within 30 days and public release of findings. Include student representatives or neutral observers in the inquiry process.
2. Medical Aid and Compensation: Free and priority medical treatment for injured students. Monetary compensation for grievous injuries or mental trauma.
3. Withdrawal of Police Cases: Immediate withdrawal of all FIRs registered against students during the protest, if any. Assurance of no disciplinary action against students for participating in peaceful demonstrations.
4. Suspension and termination of Officials Involved: Administrative leave or suspension of police personnel responsible for excessive force. Accountability of university authorities who invited police action, pending inquiry.
5. Dialogue and Negotiation Forum: Constitution of a Joint Grievance Redressal Committee with: University administration and Student representatives.
6. Reinstatement of Students' Union Elections: Student body elections must be reinstated in a democratic, time-bound, and transparent manner. Amend rules to ensure effective representation and protection of student rights.
7. Drafting and adoption of a Student Rights Charter ensuring: Freedom of expression and peaceful protest. Protection from arbitrary disciplinary action. Mechanisms for grievance redress.
8. Protocol for Police Entry on Campus: Mandatory written approval from Vice-Chancellor and District Magistrate before police enter university premises, except in extreme emergencies. Clear SOPs on law enforcement conduct in educational institutions to prevent recurrence.
9. Improved Hostel and Academic Facilities: Address genuine infrastructural demands raised by students (e.g. food quality, water, internet, library access). Reforms in fee structure, scholarship disbursement, and internship support.
10. Democratization of University Governance: Student representation in key committees like Anti-Ragging Committee, Academic Council, Disciplinary Board, Periodic feedback mechanism on governance.
India’s history of student movements is one of courage, intellect, and hope. From colonial resistance to challenging injustice in free India, students have always been the conscience of the nation. The events of June 10, 2025, must serve as a wake-up call—not just for HAU students, but for the entire educational and political system.
A university is not just a place for degrees; it is a crucible for leadership, for free thought, for the shaping of a better society. Denying students their voice is not just undemocratic—it is dangerous. The struggle at HAU today may well become tomorrow’s lesson in courage.
The resolution of the June 10 incident at HAU Hisar must go beyond damage control and work toward deep institutional healing. A rights-based approach, accountability of state actors, and commitment to democratic student representation are vital for lasting peace on campus.
Let the universities not breed silence. Let them nurture voices—loud, reasoned, and fearless.
