Several students’ organisations in the State have expressed their unhappiness with the University Grants Commission (UGC) directive to higher educational institutions to observe Surgical Strike Day on September 29 to celebrate the valour of the armed forces, arguing that it is a reductionist view of patriotism. While some will be staging protests, members of other organisations said if their universities decide to observe this day, they will boycott the events.
Gururaj Desai, State secretary of the Students’ Federation of India, said they would conduct Statewide protests on Saturday to register their dissent. “Ahead of parliamentary elections, the Central government is reducing patriotism to respecting the Army and soldiers. The concept of observing this day itself is problematic,” he said.
Ajay Kamat, district secretary, All India Democratic Students’ Organisation, too, opposed the move. “There are so many problems in the country such as poverty, inequality, and unemployment ... and the Central government should not look at this as an achievement,” he said.
While a few universities have decided not to observe the day, many others are undecided yet. T.D. Kemparaju, Vice-Chancellor, Bengaluru North University, said the university had received no communication in this regard and was yet to take a decision on the issue.
K.R. Venugopal, Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University, said they would observe the day by terming it “victory day” or “Army day”.
However, Mangalore University’s Student Welfare Department has arranged a talk by an NCC officer and an ex-serviceman as part of its Surgical Strike Day programme. Vice-Chancellor (in charge) Kishore Kumar C.K. said they have invited Lt. Col. Gracian Sequeira, Administrative Officer of NCC 18 Karnataka Battalion, Mangaluru, and Col. Nitte Guttu Sharath Bhandary (retd) to speak about the significance of the day. Before the talk, there will be a march by 80 NCC cadets of the University College and postgraduate students of the university.
September 29 marks the second anniversary of the surgical strike conducted across the Line of Control (LoC). The UGC had recently told all colleges to observe the day in a “befitting manner”. The commission said NCC units of higher education institutions should organise a special parade on the day following which the NCC Commander should address students on the “modalities of protection of the borders”. The circular also stated that colleges should organise a meeting with ex-servicemen. The circular stated that all the activities undertaken should be uploaded on the university activity monitoring portal on the UGC website.
The decision came under criticism by not just leaders of the Opposition but also universities and students’ organisations across the country who termed it “aggressive pseudo-nationalism”