ABVP and National Reconstruction
Keywords:
ABVP, Nationalism, Student Movement, Reconstruction, Youth EmpowermentAbstract
Takshshila was the first university founded in the 5th to 6th Century BC witnessed the role of the students guided by their teachers to start a movement for nation-building. Kautilya (Chanakya) with the help of the learners from Takshashila University led the crusade for making Bharat a strong nation. The first students’ strike in undivided India took place in 1920 in King Edward Medical College, Lahore, against academic discrimination between Indian and English pupils. Students and their organizations participated in the freedom struggle across the country. They were a strong force who ensured the king upholds ‘Rajdharma'. India won freedom in 1947. The politics and government after Independence displayed undeclared apathy towards the role of students in 'nation building'. Such a situation warranted the formation of a platform that could work as an organization, source of inspiration, agitation, and national reconstruction. Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) was established in 1949 to fill the void. It nurtures patriotism and cultural trajectory but also started working among the students to develop an 'Indian conscience.' Its motto 'Gyan (Knowledge), Sheel (Character), Ekta (unity)' aims at nurturing the 'educational, cultural, social and political consciousness amongst the youth (students).' The current research paper aims to present the History of the Indian Student Movement, Nation and Role of Student, Formation of ABVP, ABVP and Various Ayyam (chapters), Role of ABVP and Freedom movement, ABVP and Cultural Nationalism, ABVP and Social harmony, ABVP and development of youth. Primary sources and secondary resources have been used in this explanatory and exploratory research paper.