Ripesh Ghosh, a Concerned Youth Of The Islands
It is disheartening to see Students who are expected to be in classrooms learning, have to be on the roads since the past few days, their protest is not born out of defiance, but out of desperation, triggered by an ill-considered decision of the administration. This move once again exposes how the islanders are treated as second-class citizens within their own nation.
Those sitting comfortably in the Air-Conditioned Offices in Delhi fail to grasp the hardships of students from far flung islands coming to Port Blair with nothing but hope. Hope of getting quality education and a well-recognized degree affiliated with a reputed central university, hoping for the social mobility that education promises.
Instead of nurturing these aspirations the government thinking reflects its elitist and mainland centric mindsets. Sending a chilling message “These Poor Islanders don’t have the right to get quality education instead should be confined to socio economic margins much like their ancestors did in the prison cells of Cellular Jail”. The decision of Disaffiliation of Island Colleges with the Pondicherry university and establishment of a deemed to be university viz Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Institute of Higher Learning Deemed University, feels like someone has slapped the island students hard. A deemed university, lacking credibility, academic legacy, and national recognition, cannot replace the assurance and value that comes with affiliation to an established central university. Education policy was never about administrative convenience, it’s about shaping lives, future and entire generations to come. For the islands students already battling distance, limited resources and systemic neglect this decision erects yet another barrier in an already uneven race.
The issue is not merely about affiliation or nomenclature its about dignity and equality. If the government truly believes in inclusive development or the principle of “SABKA SAATH, SABKA VIKAS”, it must urgently reconsider this decision and engage with students and stakeholders in good faith.
