The Politics of Protest

One of the reasons why over the years, IIT Kharagpur has been functioning smoothly has been the refreshing absence of serious student politics, the kind in vogue across a large number of colleges across West Bengal, and also other states. Constant disputes between students and the administration, a general atmosphere of uneasiness and all-round low productivity are the only outcome of the "Union culture" prevalent in student politics. Up till this point, we have been spared this ordeal.

If we are not careful, all that might change in the future.

The student unions affiliated with the CPM and the other political bigwigs in the state are looking for an excuse to gain a foothold in the IIT campus. Once that bridge is crossed, the floodgates will be wide open. In this regard, the role of the students is pivotal. As the postgrad students are more susceptible to being influenced by these political sharks, they have much greater responsibilities than the BTechs in this regards. They are uniquely susceptible to being influenced by these political sharks... as they have, in many cases, come from colleges where a high degree of political activity was quite normal. Therefore, we must unite and make sure that this plague does not invade our institute.