By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, Jan 9, 2020: The Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM), the largest body of young Catholics, has expressed anguish over recent violence in various universities in the country.
“ICYM abhors these acts and gestures and urges the government, law and order as well as all political and civil servants that are responsible for nurturing the nation to take immediate and appropriate steps to stop such heartless attacks in institutions that are making them rather “war zones,” says press release from the movement that functions under the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
The movement, which is present in 686 districts in India, also urged students, their leaders and young people to revisit and realize the purpose of educational institutions and maintain the decorum of those places.
The movement released the press note on January 6, a day after several armed and masked people entered the campus and hostels of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), a prestigious institution in the national capital, at night leaving several students and staff badly injured, noted the movement.
The attack on JNU took place less than a month after Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University witnessed similar violence that left many wounded.
“Such traumatic attacks on citizens especially in educational institutions are uncalled for, unlawful and undemocratic,” asserts the movement that animates the Catholic young people across India.
“We are saddened and disappointed to see such atrocities on young students and other individuals in educational institutions, instilling a feeling in the public that today even institutional campuses and hostels are not safe for the young students anymore,” regretted the press release signed by the movement’s president Percival Holt and general secretary Shilpa Ekka.
The Catholic youth body noted that many migrant students prefer hostels for accommodation for safety reasons, but that faith and trust was damaged by the recent incidents.
“If educational institutions in the country are not a safe space for education and holistic development of young people then where are they to go? How do we expect the nation to raise educationally and democratically sound individuals who uphold the values and ethos of the ancient traditions and teachings of this country?” it asks.
The movement also points out that India was once admired for its principles, values and respect to knowledge, elders and humanity at large.
It also bemoaned attempts to turn educational institutions in this country into popular platforms for political agendas and propaganda disturbing young people who dream and work for a bright future.
The Catholic youth body says the attack on lecturers and teachers in JNU questions the India culture of respect for the “Guru,” considered the epitome of values and virtues. “From times where Gurus were regarded as ‘Godly images or next to God’ to such incidents where they are mercilessly beaten up is a worry for us. Where has our sanskriti gone or have we easily sacrificed them for revenge and meager ego?”
The Catholic young people called on every citizen to find remedies to the problems rather blaming and attacking one another.
“Let us build a nation that upholds the constitutional values of brotherhood, love and respect for one another. Let us be role models and living examples of these ancient and traditional values that this land has been proud of for centuries and promise to be messengers of the same ethos to our future generations,” concluded the press note without clarifying the 35-year-old movement’s stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act that has brought young people to the streets across the country.