Varjit Kaur aspires to change notion about student activismA leader of the future
Ajay Joshi
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, March 9
“It is unfortunate that many educated people still equate student activism with protests, violence, damage, and unruly behaviour. If you project youth as the driving force behind nation-building then student activism comes with it,” said Varjit Kaur, a 23-year-old Shahkot-based girl who has now become a leading face.
Notably, the incidents of student protests and activism in several parts of the country have always sparked a wave of fierce debate on whether students taking part in protests can be justified? Even as the student activism has given several leaders to the state.
Kaur further adds, “It is vigorous action of students as a body in support of or opposition to any issue that leads to reforms or brings about some change in the system.”
A student of MA politicial science at Layalpur Khalsa College, she believes her introduction to student activism was a mere coincidence. She herself doesn’t know when her participation into a protest against the non-implementation of post-matric scholarship (PMS) scheme compelled her to raise her voice against all the injustice.
From issues concerning cleanliness to farmers’ stir, she has been vocal about almost every issue since 19. Her first protest was when she and other SC students were not allowed to appear in college exams due to non-disbursal of funds under the PMS scheme. Today also, she held a protest along with a group of students against brutal rape and murder of a six-year-old in Chandigarh. “It is hard to say when our voices will be heard, but we want the authorities to know that any incident that occurs in our society effects students,” said Kaur.
As a member of the Punjab Students Union she now leads the woman wing of the union in the district. If any student from minority community faces any issue in the colleges, Kaur becomes the first choice to approach. While she has been fighting against the college authorities for last five years against PMS scheme and fee hike, she also motivates women in her village to fight for rights every now and then.
Apart from continuing to give her contribution in farmers’ protest against the farm laws, this year she will conduct tours in the villages to appeal people to cast their vote judiciously in the next state elections. An ardent follower of Bhagat Singh, she says she has devoted herself to social activism and longs for a socially equal society.
“An education system which does not qualify the students to question the existing theories and policies is useless and must be questioned for its own validity. I want the student activists to grow for a better education system” Kaur added.
