The Jammu Kashmir National Student Federation, University of Poonch convention will be held on 20 December in Rawalakot under the banner of the Students Rights Caravan. Students will mobilize in large numbers to protest for student rights, the restoration of student unions, and the right to freedom for all oppressed nations, including Jammu Kashmir. The convention will include the election of a new University of Poonch cabinet, addresses by central leaders, and the adoption of resolutions in a joint university session.
A representative meeting of the University of Poonch was convened at the central secretariat of the JKNSF. Representatives from all University of Poonch campuses, along with leaders from NSF affiliated educational institutions in Rawalakot, attended the meeting and issued a joint declaration.
The meeting opened with welcoming remarks by Aman Habib, Chairman of the Study Circle at the University of Poonch, who greeted students from all campuses and presented an overview of the crisis facing the education system. He focused particularly on the challenges confronting the University of Poonch and highlighted the critical role of student politics in addressing these issues. The gathering was addressed by University of Poonch representatives and senior NSF leaders, including Central Spokesperson Mujeeb Khan, Central Chairperson Study Circle Aliza Aslam, General Secretary Poonch Danish Fida, Organizer Degree College Salik Rasheed, Chairman City Unit Hanan Babar, Organizer Datot Degree College Abdul Qudoos, representatives from the Law Department Samar Faizi and Mehak Zahid, Psychology Department representative Mehrein Nisa, Organizer Polytechnic College Rawalakot Ali Rasheed, Abdullah, Anosh, and other leaders.
Speakers noted that the present period is defined by a deep and ongoing crisis affecting all sectors of society, with the education system bearing the greatest burden. They said that the exploitation of Jammu Kashmir’s resources, along with the continued incompetence of the ruling class, has led to a complete failure to seriously address public concerns. Rather than resolving these issues, misgovernance and profiteering have only intensified them.
They explained that the privatization of education, the deliberate neglect and decay of educational institutions, restrictions on student unions and political activity, rising tuition costs and repeated fee increases, deteriorating infrastructure, inadequate facilities, lack of transport services, the militarization of campuses, outdated curricula disconnected from modern requirements, and widespread harassment of students have collectively made quality education increasingly inaccessible for people across the region.
The speakers emphasized that the recent unjust fee increase at the end of the previous semester clearly demonstrates that the local ruling elite is not merely failing to provide free, affordable, and quality education, but is actively pushing education beyond the reach of ordinary people through constant fee hikes. While the recent successful, state wide student protest movement against these increases deserves praise, it also highlights the necessity of sustained and organized struggle to secure the full restoration of student rights.
They further noted that the long standing revolutionary tradition and resistance of the JKNSF continues to inspire today’s youth. This legacy represents a powerful model not only for achieving student rights, but also for reclaiming those that have been taken away. JKNSF remains the only political student organization in the region that consistently symbolizes resistance to the most extreme forms of state repression, rooted in scientific revolutionary thought. In advancing these ideas, mobilizing large sections of youth and students, and organizing a unified student movement for the restoration of student rights, the “Azadi Convention” will serve as a decisive milestone.
Concluding their remarks, the speakers asserted that student politics and organized struggle are indispensable for confronting and ultimately defeating state repression and capitalist exploitation. They reaffirmed that the JKNSF will continue its struggle without compromise until the end of imperialist occupation and colonial domination in Jammu Kashmir, the complete restoration of student rights, and, above all, the realization of the denied right to freedom and the establishment of a genuinely humane, classless society.