Break from politics

KIRAN ADHIKARI

On a chilly morning, with signs of rain, I unwillingly came out of bed as I had to go to my workplace, which happens to be a reputed private college. I reached college early, only to get disappointed to see the office room being padlocked. A long notice was pasted on every door of the college premises calling for an indefinite closure. The notice had also threatened to not to carry out any administrative or academic activities till their demands had been fulfilled. The notice was signed by a leader of the student union, affiliated to a major political party. The same union had vandalized the college the day before.

It was not the first time I was experiencing the political fever within the college. In my nine month long working tenure, I have seen the college being padlocked more than a dozen times for all the unnecessary reasons. I have witnessed college furniture and windowpanes being smashed. I have seen students abusing and manhandling the teaching and administrative staffs. I have understood the inability of the college administration to take action against them just because of their affiliation to political parties. And, I have also realized the irritation among students for not being able to attend their regular classes.

Every new day, a student goes to college to learn something new. The teachers go there to teach something new. The administrative staff go to facilitate the daily routine at college. But, in the institution that I am involved with, students, teachers and administration staffs go every day to be eye witnesses of new modes and trends of vandalism.

I still remember those days when my parents had admitted me in a private college because public colleges used to be the hub of dirty politics then. Private colleges were expected to give quality education without any interventions. But, today private colleges seem to be most affected by political influences. One cannot guarantee a trouble free stay within the college. The student unions fighting in the name of students are creating such a chaos that not even a single student can feel his life secured. The regular closures of colleges and universities have not only delayed the course duration, but has also engraved a sense of instability among students. If the current circumstances persist, many private colleges will not survive even a couple of years more. Educational institutions must be free from any type of intervention. And, I feel sad as I watch the so-called leaders of these student unions, I can surely guess what type of leaders they are going to be in the future and where they will be dragging our country into. I can only say “God bless us.”