All India Students' Federation

The All India Students' Federation (AISF) is the oldest student organisation in India, founded in 1936.

All India Students' Federation
AbbreviationAISF
Formation12 August 1936 (1936-08-12), Lucknow, United Province, British India
TypeStudent organisation
PurposeScientific socialism[1]
Headquarters4/7, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi-110002, India [2]
Location
President
Vicky Mahesari
General Secretary
Dinesh Sreerangaraj
Main organ
Student's Action[3]
Affiliations
Websiteaisf.org.in

Pre-independence

AISF was founded on 12 August 1936, with guidance and cooperation from the Indian independence movement.[4][5] The foundation conference of the AISF was held at Ganga Prasad Memorial Hall in Lucknow, with 936 delegates from across India.[6] The conference was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, and presided over by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The conference resolved to establish an All India Students' Federation, and Prem Narayan Bhargava was elected as the first general secretary.[6]

The second conference of the AISF was held three months later, beginning on 22 November 1936 in Lahore. It mainly discussed and adopted the constitution of the AISF. The conference was attended by about 150 delegates under the presidency of Sarat Chandra Bose. The conference was also addressed by Govind Ballabh Pant. It passed a resolution condemning the intervention by Nazi Germany into the affairs of Republican Spain. The conference also agreed to affiliate the AISF with the World Students' Association.

Hemu Kalani, an AISF leader, was arrested by the British army in 1942 for leading the Quit India Movement, and publicly hanged in 1943 at the age of 19. AISF leader Kanaklata Barua was another student leader who died participating in the fight for independence.[7]

An AISF delegation visited the Bengal state during the famine of 1943 and engaged in relief activities.[8]

During the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay in February 1946, the AISF helped to mobilise students in support of the Naval Ratings.[7]

AISF in independent India

After independence, the AISF concentrated its activities mainly on educational issues, anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, providing a platform for student unity against common threats. The AISF played a central role in the Telangana Rebellion against the Nizam of Hyderabad.[9]

The AISF continued to fight for Indian unity with the Goa liberation movement. Satyagrahis from across India entered Goa on 15 August 1955 and were fired upon. 23-year-old Karnail Singh Benipal was killed when he tried to save his leader V.D. Chitale.[10] The general secretary of the AISF, Sukhendu Mazumdar, was present with AISF leader C. K. Chandrappan on 15 August at the Goa border to help the student satyagrahis.[11]

The AISF participated in the Kothari Commission report, which provided the basis for broad educational reforms in India.[12]

In the 1980s, during the Khalistan movement, the AISF, under the leadership of General Secretary Satyapal Dang, received armed training to counter Khalistan militants.[13] Harpal Mohali, the AISF leader from Mohali, led movements in Panjab University. In response to his attempt to counter Khalistan, Mohali was shot by militants and left paralysed. Many AISF activists were killed fighting against Khalistan separatism.[13]

State-level presence

The AISF has a strong presence in Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,Rajasthan, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, and Punjab, and in most universities in the country.

Activities

Protest and demands
  • The AISF protested against the National Education Policy in 2019[14] and the proposed increase in university fees.[15][16][17][18]
  • AISF members were active in multiple Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2019.[19][20][21][22]
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, AISF activists called for the distribution of essential products in various states.[23] The federation set up COVID-19 helpline numbers in various states to help students,[24] and also distributed facemasks and hand sanitiser.[25][26]
  • The AISF held a hunger strike in August 2021, demanding a fresh job calendar in Andhra Pradesh.[27] The federation has also campaigned against the privatisation of schools and colleges in the state.[28]
  • AISF activists protested against alleged errors in results of the Railway Recruitment Control Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRCB NTPC) exam, during Bihar Bandh, in Patna on 28 January 2022.[29][30][31]
  • The AISF organised a national convention, "Reject NEP 2020" against the National Education Policy (NEP) on 15 May 2022 in Chennai. The convention called for a united front of students and teachers of all educational institutions for the withdrawal of the NEP, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).[32][33]

Other social work

The AISF runs Sramajibi Canteen and is involved in various other social work.[34]

LGBT issues

The AISF actively supports LGBT rights. In 2022, AISF state committee member Nadira Mehrin became the first transgender person to contest in a student union election at Kerala University,[35][36] and also contested as the AISF candidate for chairperson of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), the first time a transgender person had led a candidates' panel for a university election in the state.[37][38][39]

Motto and organisational structure

The organisation's original motto, reflecting its focus on peace, progress and scientific socialism, was "Freedom, Peace and Progress". This was amended at the 1958 National Convention, and the motto since then has been "Study & Struggle".[40]

The administrative structure of the federation includes:

  1. National executive body
  2. State executive body
  3. State administrative body
  4. District administrative body
  5. Block level committee
  6. Institutions level unions

AISF National Conferences
National ConferenceYearPlacePresidentGeneral Secretary
1
(Founder Conference)		12–13 August 1936Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)Prem Narayan Bhargava
222 November 1936LahorePrem Narayan Bhargava
31–3 January 1938MadrasAnsar Harvani
41–2 January 1939CalcuttaM.L.Shah
51–2 January 1940DelhiM.L.Shah
625–26 December 1940NagpurM. Farooqui
731 December 1941 to 1 January 1942PatnaPerin Bharucha
Prashanta Sanyal
828–31 December 1944CalcuttaSatyapal Dang
920 January 1946GunturSatyapal Dang
103 January 1947DelhiAnnada Shankar Bhattacharya
1129–31 December 1947BombaySatyapal DangAnnada Shankar Bhattacharya
1223–27 July 1949CalcuttaSusheela MadimanAnnada Shankar Bhattacharya
1950CalcuttaSusheela MadimanSukhendu Mazumdar (Acting general secretary)
1952CalcuttaSusheela MadimanAnnada Shankar Bhattacharya
131–5 January 1953HyderabadHarish Chandra TiwariN.R. Dasari
145–8 January 1955LucknowB. Narsingha RaoSukhendu Mazumdar
152–4 January 1959UdaipurVidyasagar NautiyalHiren Dasgupta
1625–27 October 1961,
but it could not be held due to natural disaster		Kanpur
1729 December 1965 – 2 January 1966PondicherryJoginder Singh DayalS. Sudhakar Reddy
1821–23 December 1969New DelhiBant Singh BrarRanjit Guha
1920 January 1974CochinShambhu Sharan ShrivastavaAziz Pasha
201–9 February 1979LudhianaAtul Kumar AnjanAmarjeet Kaur
2128–31 January 1983TrichyAtul Kumar AnjanAmarjeet Kaur
2213–16 December 1985GunturRavindra Nath RaiT. Laxminarayana
2315–18 February 1991BokaroRavindra Nath RaiSoni Thengamom
247–9 February 1996HyderabadRahul BhaijiT. Srinivas
2518–21 October 2000JalandharT. Srinivas,
Ramakrushna Panda		Vijendra Kesari
263–6 January 2006ChennaiP. Muralidhar,
Jinu Zakariya Oommen[41]		Vijendra Kesari
2713-15 February 2010PuducherryParamjit DhabanAbhay Taksal
2828–30 November 2013HyderabadValli Ullah Khadri[41]Vishwajeet Kumar
2927–30 September 2018Anantapur, Andhra PradeshShuvam Banerjee[42]Vicky Mahesari
3028–1 September–October 2023BegusaraiVicky Mahesari[42]Dinesh Sreerangaraj

Present leadership

At the 30th AISF National Conference, held in September to October 2023 in Begusarai, Bihar, Vicky Mahesari from Punjab was elected as National President and Dinesh Sreerangaraj from Tamilnadu was elected as General Secretary.[43]

Notable leaders

See also

References
  1. "AISF fought heroically for freedom | Hyderabad News - Times of India". The Times of India. 17 September 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  2. "AISF - Official". www.aisf.org.in. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  3. Wilkinson, Tom (2019). "Student Politics in British India and Beyond: The Rise and Fragmentation of the All India Student Federation (AISF), 1936–1950". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (22). doi:10.4000/samaj.6488. S2CID 226826101.
  4. "History". All India Students Federation. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  5. Wilkinson, Tom (15 December 2019). "Student Politics in British India and Beyond: The Rise and Fragmentation of the All India Student Federation (AISF), 1936–1950". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (22). doi:10.4000/samaj.6488. ISSN 1960-6060. S2CID 226826101.
  6. "AISF has it genesis in Lucknow University | Lucknow News - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. Lotha, Arhoni (2015). "Role of All India Students Federation In Freedom Struggle (1936-1947)" (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  8. A. B. Bardhan (June 2013). "Satpal Dang: My Friend & Colleague, My Ideal". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  9. Wilkinson, Tom (15 December 2019). "Student Politics in British India and Beyond: The Rise and Fragmentation of the All India Student Federation (AISF), 1936–1950". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal (22). doi:10.4000/samaj.6488. Retrieved 1 December 2020 – via journals.openedition.org.
  10. "Karnail Singh: The Unsung Young Hero of Goa Liberation (By: PRAJAL SAKHARDANDE, PANAJI)". Goa News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. Nair, C. Gouridasan (23 March 2012). "For him, personal was also political". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 December 2020 – via www.thehindu.com.
  12. Gupta, Susmita Sen (2009). Radical Politics in Meghalaya: Problems and Prospects. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 9788178357423.
  13. Ramakrishnan, Venkatesh (12 July 2013). "Communist legend". Frontline. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  14. "Seeking public feedback on draft education policy an eyewash, say experts". The New Indian Express. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  15. "AISF protests against high fee in private schools". The Hindu. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  16. "All India Student Federation opposes fee hike in engineering colleges". Hans India. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  17. PTI (23 November 2019). "'Make education affordable to all': Hundreds protest in Delhi against fee hike". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  18. "Punjabi University students raise voice against 10% semester fee hike". Tribune. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  19. Baruah, Sukrita (25 December 2019). "Youth bodies, student unions join forces to oppose CAA in Delhi". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  20. "AISF holds protest march against CAA, NRC, NPR". The Times of India. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  21. "Anti-CAA protest: AISF members stop train at Rajendra Nagar railway station in Patna". ANI News. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  22. "AISF meet against CAA-NPR in Hyderabad". The Siasat Daily. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  23. Excelsior, Daily (17 April 2020). "Distribution of ration, essential items continues". Daily Excelsior. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  24. "Student wings of political parties join efforts to help the Covid-hit". Hindustan Times. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  25. "एआईएसएफ ने विद्यार्थियों के बीच मास्क बांटा". Hindustan (in Hindi). 8 April 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  26. "जवानों व आमजनों को AIYF/AISF ने किया मास्क वितरण, सोशल डिस्टेंसिंग अपनाने की अपील". Khabar Bastar. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  27. ANI (28 July 2021). "Andhra Student Unions To Hold Hunger Strike Demanding Fresh Job Calendar". NDTV. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  28. Bandari, Pavan Kumar (8 November 2021). "Tension erupts in Anantapur as students protest against merger of aided college in govt". Hans India. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  29. PTI (4 February 2022). "Railways reaches out to 2 lakh aspirants over RRB exam protests". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  30. "Bihar Bandh: Protests Over Incorrect Railway Exam Results". Outlook. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  31. "RRB-NTPC Protest: पटना में AISF छात्रों ने मैकडोनाल्ड में की तोड़फोड़, दरभंगा में RJD कार्यकर्ताओं ने रोकी रेल, JAP कार्यकर्ताओं की पुलिस से झड़प". TV9 (in Hindi). 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  32. "AISF to hold 'Reject NEP 2020' convention on May 15". The Hindu. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  33. "Education Ministers from three States slam NEP". The Hindu. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  34. Chatterjee, Akash. "Assembly 2021: Can the Left become the proverbial dark horse in West Bengal?". The International Magz. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  35. "Meet Nathira, the first trans person to stand for student elections at Kerala Uni". The News Minute. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  36. Nair, Jaikrishnan (9 June 2019). "Kerala's CMS College opens its gate for transgender students". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  37. "Transwoman student to lead AISF candidates' panel in Kerala". The Times of India. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  38. Praveen, M. P. (25 February 2022). "Transwoman leads panel in Sanskrit varsity union polls". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  39. "Nadira to create history; transwoman named chairperson candidate in Kalady University". Keralakaumudi Daily. February 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  40. "AISF - Official". www.aisf.org.in. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  41. "AISF Poised to Face New Challenges". Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  42. "All India Students Federation national convention on Sept 27". Hans India. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  43. "29th National Conference of All India Students Federation". ਭਵਿੱਖ - ਵਿਦਿਆਰਥੀਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਨੌਜੁਆਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਬੁਲਾਰਾ. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
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