Once, the lanes of universities in Lucknow, Allahabad, Banaras, Agra, Delhi, Hyderabad, Gorakhpur, and Patna echoed with slogans, debates, ideological clashes, and visions of a new India. That was an era when every student leader carried the spark of a movement in their words. But today, silence looms over those lanes, student union buildings stand deserted, and universities—the most crucial laboratories of democracy—are frozen in the icy shadows of political inactivity.

"Those who once mastered the craft of politics are now lost in the race for jobs, and those who have tasted power prefer the silence of students," say student leaders from the 70s. Remember some names—Devvrat Majumdar, Chanchal, Mohan Prakash, Satya Dev Tripathi, Mohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, Ramji Lal Suman, Raj Kumar Jain, Sharad Yadav, Sitaram Yechury—a long list of young leaders. And now? A drought!

In the 1960s and 1970s, leaders such as Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan transformed student politics into a tool for mass revolution. During the Emergency, the defiance that rose from campuses shook the foundations of power. But after the 90s, as privatisation took over, career counselling replaced ideological debates in universities. Student unions were banned, administrative apathy grew, and every voice of dissent was crushed in the name of ‘maintaining peace’. 

"Where there is no debate, there is no change. And where there is no change, democracy suffocates," says socialist thinker Prof Paras Nath Choudhary. Student unions were not just platforms—they were a culture where young leadership flourished, policies were questioned, and alternative futures were imagined. All these leaders emerged from the womb of student politics. But now, that womb has turned barren. 

From Bihar to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat—many states have buried a vibrant democratic tradition by banning student union elections. "There’s chaos, studies get disrupted,"—this excuse has now become the shroud over the student consciousness that once questioned power directly. 

An NSUI 2023 report reveals that in the absence of student unions, university administrations make decisions without accountability—hostel conditions, fee hikes, discrimination—students' voices go unheard. "They govern, they don’t converse"—this is the state of campuses today. 

And, the biggest victims of this silence are the marginalised—Dalits, tribals, minorities, and rural students. A 2024 study found that unless such students organise through unions, they feel ‘politically powerless’. Their issues—caste discrimination, gender harassment, institutional bias—remain ignored. 

"A generation unaccustomed to speaking up will tomorrow silently perpetuate injustice in power," says social activist Padmini Iyer. This inertia is also reshaping national politics. On one side, dynastic parties dominate; on the other, corporate interests dictate democracy’s direction. New voices, new ideas, new leadership—all have been replaced by sycophancy, succession, and yes-men. 

Is this the same India where Gandhi called students the ‘backbone of nation-building’? Are these the same universities where once every student nurtured a movement within? 

Now is the time to break this silence. Restoring student union elections is not a ‘political demand’—it is a necessity for reviving democracy. Universities must not be degree-distribution centres but idea-incubation hubs. They must once again become arenas of debate, criticism, and ideological clashes.

State governments must lift bans on student unions. University administrations must understand that control breeds not peace but passivity. And political parties must take responsibility to promote youth based on ideas, not lineage or connections. 

Once Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." But if the temple of education itself is severed from politics, where will change come from? 

So, bring back the student unions. Let democracy breathe again.