There is something inspiring and enlightening about the sight of students standing together in protest. Their placards may carry new demands, their slogans may belong to a new generation, and the technologies they use to organise may be radically different from those of the past. But the spirit is not new. From the struggle against British colonial rule to the battles for democracy, social justice and the rights of young people in independent India, students have repeatedly emerged at the forefront of mass mobilisation. They have never confined themselves to the narrow boundaries of classrooms, examinations and campuses when the larger destiny of the country was at stake.The participation of students in the Swadeshi movement, the Non-Cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience Movement and, most dramatically, the Quit India Movement, is important. They boycotted colonial educational institutions, organised demonstrations, distributed nationalist literature, faced arrests and imprisonment, and carried the message of resistance into towns and villages. During the Quit India Movement, students were among those who kept the movement alive when the colonial government imprisoned the principal leadership. They organised processions, protested arrests and participated in underground activities despite the repression of the British Raj.AdvertisementAlso Read | At Jantar Mantar, the story isn’t just the demands — it’s people finally showing upThis tradition was not confined to one political stream. Students were drawn into different currents of the national movement, including revolutionary, socialist, Gandhian and communist traditions. What united many of them was the recognition that education could not be separated from the fate of society. A student could not remain a passive spectator while an entire country was being denied freedom.It was in this political atmosphere that the All India Students’ Federation was established in Lucknow in August 1936, bringing together students from different parts of the country into what became India’s first national students’ organisation. The founding conference at Ganga Prasad Memorial Hall was attended by hundreds of delegates from across the country. Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the conference. The very presence of national leaders at the conference reflected the importance attached to student participation in the freedom struggle. Nehru, in particular, recognised students as an important force in the national movement.The story of Bhagat Singh gives this tradition an even more profound meaning. Bhagat Singh was not merely a young revolutionary who made the supreme sacrifice. He was a political thinker who understood that courage without political understanding could not transform society. He placed enormous importance on the ideological and intellectual development of young people.AdvertisementIn his 1931 document To Young Political Workers, written only weeks before his execution, Bhagat Singh emphasised the need for study circles, political education, propaganda and organised work among workers and peasants. He believed that young people had to develop clarity about the society they wished to build, rather than merely oppose the society they inherited. His martyrdom, therefore, was not simply an act of extraordinary personal courage. It was an appeal to generations of young Indians to think, organise and fight for a radically better future.The decades after Independence have repeatedly confirmed this political character of student movements. Students have risen not only over fees, examinations or hostel facilities, but over questions of democracy, federalism, language, social justice, civil liberties and the direction of the country itself. The anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu drew enormous student participation. The Assam Movement saw students play a central organisational role. The student-led mobilisation against the Emergency became an important part of the democratic resistance of the 1970s. Left student organisations, too, have a long record of taking up questions far beyond campus boundaries: defending public education, opposing communalism and caste oppression, supporting workers and peasants, resisting authoritarianism and demanding democratic rights.India today is passing through a deep crisis on many fronts. Public education faces growing pressures. Examination systems have been repeatedly shaken by allegations and instances of paper leaks and irregularities. Young people confront an acute crisis of employment and secure livelihoods. Communal polarisation threatens the social fabric of the Republic. Democratic dissent is too often treated as a problem to be managed rather than a constitutional right to be respected. Accountability has become increasingly difficult to extract from those in power.And yet, at a moment when cynicism could easily have overwhelmed hope, students have once again stepped forward.The recent student movement over examination irregularities and the NEET crisis has demonstrated the power of collective action. The sustained mobilisation eventually contributed to the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on July 25. His resignation came after weeks of protests in Delhi and elsewhere, with his exit being a central demand of the movement.But a resignation cannot be the end of the struggle. It must be the beginning of a larger democratic reckoning. The questions raised by the students remain. Who will guarantee the integrity of examinations? Who will protect students from paper leaks, manipulation and arbitrary decisions? Who will ensure that public education remains accessible and democratic? Who will create dignified employment opportunities for the millions entering the workforce? Who will protect universities as spaces for free thought rather than instruments of ideological control? And, above all, who will defend the constitutional promise of equality, fraternity, secularism and democracy?The answer cannot come from governments alone. It must come from society, from organised people, from workers and farmers, from women and marginalised communities, and crucially, from the students and youth of India. That is the historical responsibility of the present generation of students.Today, the challenge is different, but the underlying principle is the same. The struggle is no longer against a foreign colonial power. It is against the forces that seek to hollow out the democratic and constitutional foundations of the Republic; against communal division, authoritarianism, inequality, unemployment, privatisation of public goods and the erosion of institutional accountability.The present student movement must be intensified, broadened and carried forward. Its immediate demands must be pursued, but its political consciousness must also deepen. Students must reach beyond their campuses, build solidarity with workers and farmers, stand with Dalits, Tribals and women facing discrimination, defend public institutions and become an active force for constitutional democracy.you may likeThis is where the legacy of Bhagat Singh remains particularly relevant. His message was not simply to be angry. It was to study, understand, organise and act. His generation taught India that youth can become the conscience of a nation when they combine courage with political clarity.As India marks the 79th anniversary of Independence, the unfinished task of freedom confronts us in a new form. The freedom struggle liberated India from colonial rule. The democratic struggle of our generation must liberate India from fear, hatred, inequality and authoritarianism.The students who once marched against the British Raj helped win political independence. The students of today can help lead the struggle to reclaim the Republic and defeat the RSS-BJP Raj.The writer is General Secretary, CPI