Do they think they are ‘Mahatama Gandhi’ practicing his act of resistance ‘satyagraha?’ This was the cryptic remark that the Supreme Court has passed on Wednesday against student protests on college campuses.
Quashing a lawsuit filed by a female student in which she had challenged her rustication of St George College in Kerala, a vacation bench of the apex court heaped scorn on on-campus protests the students resort to from time to time.
The management of the St George College had suspended Indulekha Joseph, daughter of a lecturer in the college, for holding rallies protesting her father’s transfer.
Addressing Indulekha Joseph, Justice Markandey Katju, was quoted as saying, "What kind of a student are you? You are raising slogans, distributing pamphlets, holding press conferences, displaying placards. What do you think you are doing, a Satyagraha."
"Do you think you are Mahatama Gandhi?" the judge asked her adding "You are behaving like a neta (leader), not like a student. This type of netagiri is indiscipline."
Dismissing Joseph's lawsuit, the bench asked the college management to hand over her a transfer certificate. It had, however, cautioned the college authorities against any adverse comment on her conduct in the document.