Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that campus politics is the constitutional right of students that cannot be denied by anyone in the country.
Inaugurating a two-day seminar on ‘Indian parliamentary democracy: threats and challenges’ organised by the E.K. Nayanar chair for ‘Parliamentary Affair at Kannur University here on Monday, the Chief Minister said it was a violation of the spirit of the Constitution to deny the right to organisation to students above 18 in a country where people aged 18 and above were eligible to exercise their franchise. The Constitution, shaped by the struggle for Independence, offers all sections of people their right to assemble and protest. Democratic activism and lifestyle should be inculcated at an early stage of the citizen, he said stressing that school and college-level democratic activities are essential for strengthening the country’s democracy.
Mr. Vijayan said that for democracy to survive, there should be a situation where people could get their basic requirements. The protection of minorities was of paramount importance in a democracy. Survival of the federal system was also essential for democracy.
A strong Centre, contended States and local self-government institutions were also important for democracy, he said adding the Election Commission should act impartially to strengthen people’s confidence in democracy. Observing that caste and religion-based intervention would weaken parliamentary democracy, he called for considering the introduction of a system that would allow the people to withdraw their representatives.
Mr. Vijayan said it was a paradox that the proposed Bill for women’s reservation in Parliament still remained a non-starter in a country where a woman had served as Prime Minister for many years. He stressed the urgency of freeing the election process from the influence of money power. The idea of proportional representation to replace the existing election system should also be examined, he said.
University Vice Chancellor Babu Sebastian presided over the meeting. Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad, P.K. Sreemathy, MP, K.K. Ragesh, MP, Sharada, wife of the late Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar, university Syndicate members M. Prakashan, P. Santhosh Kumar and John Joseph, academicians K.K.N. Kurup, Venkatesh Arthreya and M.K. Ramakrishnan were among those present.