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* [http://thewire.in/2016/03/14/interview-shehla-rashid-on-the-attack-on-jnu-left-dalit-solidarity-and-more-24736/ Interview by The Wire], 14 March 2016. |
* [http://thewire.in/2016/03/14/interview-shehla-rashid-on-the-attack-on-jnu-left-dalit-solidarity-and-more-24736/ Interview by The Wire], 14 March 2016. |
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* [http://www.deccanherald.com/content/534458/students-rising-india-says-jnu.html Interview by Deccan Herald], 14 March 2016. |
* [http://www.deccanherald.com/content/534458/students-rising-india-says-jnu.html Interview by Deccan Herald], 14 March 2016. |
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QW6oOi605A Debate at India Today Conclave], Megamind Videos, 18 March 2016. |
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Revision as of 14:07, 26 March 2016
Shehla Rashid Shora | |
---|---|
Shehla Rashid Shora | |
Born | |
Nationality | Indian |
Education | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
Occupation | Student |
Shehla Rashid Shora is the current Vice-President of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union. She is enrolled in an M.Phil programme in Governance and Law. Shora came into limelight after the JNU student union president Kanhaiya Kumar was arrested on charges of sedition over the JNU sedition controversy in February 2016, leading the student agitation calling for the release of Kumar and other activists.
Life and education
Shehla Rashid Shora was born in the old city of Srinagar in the Habba Kadal locality. Her mother is a nurse in the SK Institute of Medical Sciences.[1]
Shora studied computer engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar and political leadership at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Afterwards, Shora said that she joined the corporate world but got disillusioned. She raised the issues of juvenile justice and acid attacks on women in Kashmir but "the political space there [was] too restricted." Eventually, she joined the Jawaharlal Nehru University, studying MPhil in Law and Governance.[1][2]
She was always politically inclined but, in the Kashmir of 1990s, there was no scope for articulating it because there was a "heavy emphasis on maintaining normalcy."[3] Speaking at the India Today Conclave in March 2016, Shora said that she grew up watching a "very violent image of India" but JNU gave her democratic space.[4]
Activism
Shora unsuccessfully contested the election for Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment in 2015.[1]
In September 2015, she contested the election for vice-present of the JNU student union, as the nominee of the Left-backed All India Students Association, and won it, beating the ABVP's candidate Valentina Brahma. She was the first Kashmiri to win a student union election at the JNU. She said that there was enough space to articulate her political spirit at the JNU. However, her challenge was to "convince voters in favour of a Kashmir woman from a non-political background."[5]
Soon after getting elected, Shora condemned the ban on student politics at the Kashmir University. She said that, if ideas are suppressed, they would resurface in "undesirable ways."[6] In October 2015, she led a protest agains the University Grants Commission (UGC) decision to cut student scholarships for MPhil and PhD students except for those that passed the `national eligibility test'. Under the banner "Occupy UGC," students from the JNU were joined by those from the Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia and the Ambedkar University Delhi in protests outside the UGC for over a month.[7][8] She is said to have ironed out the divergences between the AISA and the JNUSU and turned into the "face of the movement."[3]
In February 2016, Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the JNU student was arrested on sedition charges. Several other student leaders were also targeted, including the general secretary Rama Naga and the former president Ashutosh Kumar. The mantle fell on Shora who took charge of the student union and ran it ably during the absence of Kumar and other leaders, leading the agitation for their release.[9][10] Over 3,000 people joined her in a protest march on the JNU campus on 14 February, and 15,000 people, according to her estimate, in a march through the streets of Delhi.[1] On 2 March, she led a protest march to the Parliament, demanding a repeal of the sedition law. The protesters also called for the enactment of a `Rohith Act' for ending caste-based discrimination in educational institutions. The protest was joined by students and teachers from Universities across Delhi as well as the families of Rohith Vemula and Umar Khalid.[11]
The Hindustan Times called her a "firebrand Kashmiri," who drew big crowds with her eloquent speeches. Her politically-flavoured messages are shared by thousands on social media.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Shehla Rashid, firebrand Kashmiri, leading JNU students’ fightback, Hindustan Times, 20 February 2016.
- ^ Ursila Ali, JNU Crackdown: 4 powerful voices you can't ignore, Daily O, 17 February 2016.
- ^ a b Meet Shehla Rashid, the firebrand JNU leader, Rediff News, 17 March 2016.
- ^ It’s a direct fight against dictatorship: Kanhaiya Kumar, The Indian Express, 18 March 2016.
- ^ Shehla Rashid becomes first Kashmiri girl to win JNU polls, The Times of India, 14 September 2015.
- ^ JNUSU leader condemns ban on student politics in Valley, India Today, 19 September 2015.
- ^ In Pictures: #OccupyUGC protests against scrapping of fellowships for PhD and MPhil students, Scroll.in, 22 October 2015.
- ^ ‘Occupy UGC’: Students march to MHRD, detained, The Statesman, 19 November 2015.
- ^ Kamal Mitra Chenoy, How Kanhaiya Kumar went from 'anti-national' to freedom icon, Daily O, 5 March 2016.
- ^ JNUSU, in Kanhaiya’s absence: Shehla holds the fort with Rama, Saurabh charts his own path, The Indian Express, 29 February 2016.
- ^ JNU students march to parliament, Demand repeal of sedition law, The Times of India, 2 March 2016.
External links
- Personal web site
- Interview by The Wire, 14 March 2016.
- Interview by Deccan Herald, 14 March 2016.
- Debate at India Today Conclave, Megamind Videos, 18 March 2016.