Campus politics has long been an integral feature of Indian universities. From the student protests led by Jayprakash Narayan in Bihar during Emergency to the 2016 protests at Jawaharlal Nehru campus in Delhi, student politics has played a significant role in structuring public discourse. To celebrate the rich history of campus politics in contemporary India, the Centre de Sciences Humaines Wednesday put on an exhibition titled “Memories of Change”.

“Showcasing the pamphleteer testimonies born in Indian campus spaces, the exhibition called Memories of Change rejuvenates political memories of educated youth by illuminating the transformative experience of the ‘boudoir’ of post-independence India”, the concept note of the exhibition reads.  

Set up in the Open Palm Court of India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, the exhibition enables the visitor to navigate through seven essential features of student politics in India, going back to the 1970s. It voices the memories of years of student struggles through pamphlets collected from public universities across India. The majority of the material has been retrieved from Hyderabad Central University, Presidency University, University of Delhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru University. 

The exhibition is an acknowledgment of campus spaces that have played an important role in shaping public discourse in the country. It is also an attempt to portray campus politics positively at a time when the state is seeking to delegitimise, if not criminalise, it. 

The original pamphlets are displayed on two large white sheets. “UPA’s 2011 Budget: More Betrayal for Aam Aadmi, More Sops for Corporates!!!”, reads one. A pamphlet prepared to mark the International Women’s Day reads, “Pitri Satta Ki Yeh Sarkar, Yaun Hinsa Aur Atyachaar.”   

Recognising gender as a key force shaping student politics, a pamphlet by the Joint Action Committee for Social Justice appeals to all progressive democratic organisations to join the nationwide protest against the “institutional murder” of a Dalit scholar, Rohith Vemula, at the University of Hyderabad. Vemula committed suicide in 2016 after he and four others were suspended from the university following a complaint filed by the local unit of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Vemula’s suicide note was a chilling reminder of institutionalised casteism that continues to haunt campuses. 

Another pamphlet from 1996 showcases a proposal by the All India Students Association to form a committee to address gender issues in JNU. It puts in perspective the struggle that went into forming the Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment in 1999. It also provides a backdrop to the JNU students’ allegation that the dismantling of the committee and its replacement by an Internal Complaints Cell –  elections to which were recently postponed due to “administrative reasons” – was an attempt by the administration to crush the movement for gender justice on the campus.

 For visitors to listen to oral testimonies of those who have participated in campus politics, tablets and headphones are placed on several tables. “The idea was to enable a conversation between the pamphlet as a social and ideological object and testimonies of people who can reflect on that particular point of time,” said Jean-Thomas Martelli, the curator. 

In preparation for the exhibition, Jean and his team interviewed many former student activists from different backgrounds over the past six months. “We wanted to see whether campus was an important moment that added meaning to their current lives,” he explained. 

The pamphlets that form the base of the exhibition were collected from various individuals, mostly students and former students who had been active in campus politics in their time. The documents displayed at the exhibition are now also available at Parcha Project on Flickr. There are also photographs and documentaries showcasing student politics from the past. 

Jean said the pamphlets have their own “pamphleteer logic”. He explained, “Through a pamphlet, you pitch an argument in a certain way that you can grab the attention of someone else. It is vituperative in scope which makes it interesting, not just in content but it also serves a social purpose in the sense that it enables you to talk to other people and reach out to them. At the end of the day it enables ideological and social transformation because through the activity of pamphleteering, ideas are circulating. This is why I thought it would be relevant to give it a proper space which it usually doesn’t have.” 

The concept note echoes Jean’s view of pamphlets as drivers of social change. “Binding cadres with the student community they claim to embody, distributed pamphlets do not only let us unveil the backbone forces of party politics; they cover the walls with a competitive universe of its own, drawing an immense dendrogram of ideas, regenerating political organizations, civil society, and interpretations of India,” it reads.

The exhibition is open to all. It will be hosted at Open Palm Court from November 6 to 13 and then at the Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi, from November 15 to December 1. On November 11, a roundtable discussion will be held at the Experimental Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, from 6:30 pm onwards. The discussion will feature authors, professors and activists such as Snigdha Poonam, Nikhila Henry and Anand Kumar.