All India Students Federation

The All India Students Federation (AISF) is the largest ter (then called Prime Minister) of UP Govind Ballabh
national Indian students union. It is the student wing of Pant in support of their 37-point demand charter. Big
the Communist Party of India (CPI). movement broke out in Bengal in support of the hunger-
striking Andaman prisoners in 1937. AISF played an im-
portant role in it. There were widespread lathicharges and
arrests. Protests against those attacks also took place in
1 History the far-away Madras, where protest marches were taken
out. For the rst time in Indias history our All India Stu-
AISF was the rst Indian organisation of students which dents Day was observed on 20 November 1937.
worked for the independence of India. The foundation AISF began to publish Students Tribune from Novem-
conference of the AISF was held in the Ganga Prasad ber 1936 with twin aim of impacting correct and healthy
Memorial Hall of Lucknow, on August 12, 1936.[1] 936 direction to the student movement. Students Callwas be-
delegates representing 200 local and 11 provincial or- ing published from Bombay and Chhatro Abhijan from
ganisations from all over the country participated in the Calcutta.
conference. The conference received messages of good
The third conference of the AISF was held in Madras
wishes from Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra Nath Tagore,
from 1 to 3 January 1938. The conference elected Ansar
Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Srinivas Shastri and many other
Harvani as the general secretary. The Fourth AISF con-
prominent personalities. The conference was the biggest
ference held in Calcutta on 1 and 2 January 1939, where
gathering of students at all India level till that time. All
more than 800 delegates attended representing over 40
the universities were represented. P.N. Bhargava wel-
thousand members. Besides, 1500 student observers also
comed the delegates as the Chairman of the Reception
took part. M.L. Shah was elected the new general secre-
Committee. The conference was presided by M.A. Jin-
tary of the AISF.
nah and inaugurated by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. Prem
Narayan Bhargava was elected the rst general secretary The Second World War broke out on 1 September 1939.
of the AISF. TheStudents Tribue became the rst organ AISF organised an anti-imperialist rally and convention,
of the AISF. in Nagpur on 89 October 1939. Fifth AISF Confer-
ence was held on 12 January 1940 in Delhi. It was at-
The second conference of the AISF was held after a short
tended by 500 delegates and 200 observers. The confer-
interval of only three months, beginning on 22 Novem-
ence strongly condemned the War. It took a decision to
ber 1936, in Lahore. It mainly discussed and adopted the
observe 26 January as the Independence Day. The con-
constitution of the AISF. The conference was attended
ference re-elected ML Shah as the general secretary.
by about 150 delegates under the president-ship of Sarat
Chandra Bose, who called upon the students to derive in- Earlier in March 1940, the textile workers supported by
spiration from the Russian revolution. The conference the students led by AISF, went on a strike against British
was also addressed by Pt Govind Ballabh Pant. The con- rule. AISF was the rst organisation, which protested
ference decided to aliate the AISF with the World Stu- against the institution of the Defense of India Ordinance
dents Association. The Lahore AISF conference pre- in Bengal. The British government banned the AISF
pared a Demand Charter of Students as a basis of coun- booklet titled Role of the Students in the Anti-imperialist
trywide mass student movement. struggle. A student movement broke out in Calcutta de-
manding removal of the Holwell Monument in 1940.
The last months of 1936 and the whole of 1937 saw un-
precedented and active mass movements of students and Sixth conference of the AISF was held at Nagpur, on 25
youth, an upsurge of students, mainly under the leader- 26 December 1940. The result of the increasing political-
ship of the AISF. Students in Aligarh, Faizabad, Kanpur organisational conict within the AISF before and dur-
and other places were punished for taking part in the po- ing the conference led to a split in the AISF at Nagpur
conference. Consequently, there emerged two organisa-
litical activities. As a result, there were big protest meet-
ings and students strikes. tions with the name of the AISF one AISF was being
led by M. Farooqui as the general secretary, consisting
Students of U.P. went on protest actions in August 1937
mainly of the communists, and other AISF was being led
against the arrest of student leaders Ramesh Chandra
by M.L. Shah, consisting mainly of the non-communists.
Sinha and J. J. Bhattacharya. Over 15 thousand students
Prof. Satish Kalelkar tried to bring the two groups to-
went in protest demonstration in front of the Chief Minis-

1
2 1 HISTORY

gether, but he failed due to hardened positions of some A meeting of youth representatives from 63 countries
student leaders. Both fractions held their separate con- took place in London in November 1945. It was at this
ferences. Later the non-communist fraction become non- meeting that the World Federation of Democratic Youth
existent and AISF became a communist students organi- (WFDY) was established. The AISF was represented by
sation. AISF Nagpur conference demanded formation of Miss K. Boomla who polled highest votes in elections for
a national government.The AISF jumped wholehog into the executive.
the countrywide mass anti-fascist movements and prepa- The ninth AISF conference began Guntur, Andhra
rations to face the fascist advance. A Defense Conven- Pradesh, on 20 January 1946, attended by 571 delegates.
tion of students was organised in Delhi on 15 May 1942.
The place of the conference was named after Rameshwar,
Just a few months later the Congress launched Quit In- a student martyr killed in police ring in the movement
dia Movement all over the country on 9 August 1942, in
in support of the INA ocers in Calcutta. The confer-
which AISF actively participated. ence also condoled the death of B. Golvala, the manager
Large areas of the country including Bombay, Bihar, of AISF journal the student, who was murdered by the
Orissa, Assam, Madras Bengal etc. were severely af- goons of mill owners in Bombay.
fected by the Great Famine of 1943. At the initiative The historic Naval uprising took place in Bombay in
of the AISF, a joint Famine Relief Committee under February 1946. Workers and students also came out in
the chairmanship Dr B.C. Roy was organised in Septem- support actively. AISF played an active part in mobiliz-
ber 1943 and unleashed a campaign of famine relief and ing students in support of the Naval Ratings.
related works all over the country. It collected money
and food on a big scale and organised a number of cul- An international students conference was held starting on
tural programmes, both to raise funds and create aware- 31 August 1946 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was at-
ness. They opened shops to sell food grains at reasonable tended by over 300 delegates from 39 countries of the
prices in Bengal, in large numbers and also opened sev- world. The AISF was represented by Gautam Chattopad-
eral kitchens providing free food for those aected by hyaya. The conference founded the International Union
famine and hunger. The Bengal Provincial Students Fed- of Students (IUS). Meanwhile, a special conference of
eration alone conducted about 86 kitchens run by 3000 AISF was held in Nagpur on 69 June 1946. Its main
volunteers, where at least 26 thousand people used to take theme was the democratization of education and It pre-
meals every day. The British government had imposed a pared a detailed document on the subject.
ban on the SF in Bihar, even when it was busy working Large-scale communal riots broke out in Bengal and else-
for famine relief. where in the country in 1946 leading to barbaric and in-
The eighth conference of the AISF was held in Calcutta human massacres of innocents of both the communities.
from 28 to 31 December 1944. It was attended by 987 The AISF played a great role in facing and preventing the
delegates representing seventy six thousand members. riots wherever possible. It undertook relief and rehabili-
Addressing the conference, Dr B.C. Roy and Sarojini tation of the aected people on a large scale. AISF took
Naidu highly praised the relief work done by the AISF. out the rst Hindu-Muslim unity procession in Delhi in
The conference was followed by a series of mass move- the very midst of the riots and initiated the Riot Relief
ments, spontaneous and organised, singly or jointly. 26 Fund in Bengal. The student volunteers worked round
January 1945 was organised by various student organisa- the clock in the refugee camps, in many places including
tions jointly as the Independence Day. Patna, Kanpur, Agra, Allahabad, Aligarh, Chittagong,
etc.
The Second World War ended on 9 May 1945. Three
ocers of the Indian National Army (INA) were put on The tenth AISF conference began on 3 January 1947 in
trial by the British government immediately after the War Delhi participated in by 1500 delegates and observers.
ended Sehgal, Dhillon and Shahnawaz Khan. A coun- Immediately after the conference, the AISF observed 21
trywide movement was unleashed demanding release of January 1947 as Vietnam Day. Fifty thousand students
these INA ocers.The town of Tamiku observed a gen- of Calcutta went on strike on that day, a huge procession
eral strike at the call of the AISF on 31 October 1945, was taken out and a big rally organised. Police ring hap-
with this demand. More than 5 thousand students brought pened and two students including AISF leader Dhiraran-
out a demonstration on 21 November 1945. The police jan, were killed on the spot.It led to more protests.The
lathicharged and red without any warning, three persons Vietnam Students Association passed a resolution in its
died and several got injured. There was complete protest Hanoi session in memory of the Indian student martyrs
strike in all the schools and colleges the next day. There in March 1947.
was police ring again, in which eleven persons died. It In 1947 August 15 India got freedom from British rule.
was followed by a massive protest rally on more than two AISF organised Independence day functions and gather-
lakh people, the next day. Again there were lathicharges ings all over the country. Processions were held and egy
and rings. There were countryside protests all over the of British imperialism was burnt in many places.
country led by the AISF. 30 thousand students went on
strike in Bombay.
 3

2 AISF in Free India old Karnail Singh was killed when he tried to save his
leader V.C. Chitale. The general secretary of the AISF
Sukhendu Mazumdar was present with AISF leader C.K.
After independence, AISF concentrated its activities Chandrappan on 15 August at the Goa border, to help the
mainly in educational issues, Anti-imperialist and anti- student satyagrahis. A massive rally of over 2 lakh peo-
feudal struggle. It addressed various problems of stu- ple took place in Delhi on 16 August 1955, which was
dents like rise in fees, democratization of education, anti- participated in huge numbers by the students.
imperialist struggle, etc., after independence and worked
The foundation conference of the All India Youth Feder-
for students unity against communal threats. AISF
ation (AIYF), youth wing of CPI, was held in New Delhi
played a main role in the students protests against Nizams
from 28 April to 3 May 1959. AISF welcomed this and
rule in princely state of Hyderabad.
supported AIYF.
The eleventh conference of the AISF was held in Bombay
The Chinese troops launched a massive attack across the
in December 1947. It was attended by over 1500 dele-
Indian borders in 1962. The AISF, along with other pro-
gates representing more than one lakh members. Morarji
gressive forces, unequivocally condemned the Chinese
Desai, as the chief minister of Bombay, announced a ban
aggression in clear-cut terms. The split of CPI in 1964
on the conference on its very rst day. Therefore, it had
also led internal dierences in AISF. These members
to be held secretly. The Working Committee did not get
who supported the newly formed Communist Party of In-
the permission to hold an open rally. Therefore, it de-
dia (Marxist) [CPI(M)],split AISF. The splitters formed
cided to confront the government and defy the ban. Con-
Students Federation of India (SFI) in 1970 after separat-
sequently, there were clashes with the police, leading to
ing out of the AISF.
lathicharges and rings. The police atrocities were op-
posed by AISF through a Protest Day on 9 January 1948. AISF re-organised after the split and continued its student
The Indian Model Constitution xed the voting age at 21 struggle and activities. The AISF and the AIYF held their
years. AISF conference demanded that it be reduced to national conferences together at Pondicherry from 29 De-
18. It also demanded a provision of job guarantee in the cember 1965 to 2 January 1966.It was in this conference
constitution. that the AISF decided to aliate itself to the AIYF for
better coordination.
The twelfth conference of the AISF was held on 2327
July 1949 at Calcutta. It was attended by 340 delegates In August 1965, the government-aided schools in Bihar
representing Eighty thousand members. In the meantime suddenly announced an increase in their fees and Hos-
there were widespread movements for the formation of tel charges were also increased. AISF started a massive
and elections to the student unions in educational insti- student protest, known as August Movement, to protest
tutes, all over the country, in which the AISF played an against the fee hike. AISF mobilized students from all
active role. By 1952, it had become an important demand over Bihar in the state capital, Patna, who demonstrated
of the AISF. before the State Secretariat on 9 August 1965. Police
launched an unprovoked attack on the students in the
The 13th conference of the AISF was held in Hyderabad
most brutal manner and this led to deat of some students
on 15 January 1953. It was attended by about 400 dele-
and many got injuries. soon the protest spread all over the
gates representing a membership of more than one lakh.
state, making Wide public opinion, cutting across all the
It was preceded and followed by countrywide mass move-
political opinions and organisations, severely condemned
ments on the questions of student unions, reduction in
the police action. State government interfered and the fee
fees etc.
hike was withdrawn.
The 14th conference of the AISF was held on 58 Jan-
Pakistan attacked India in September 1965. AISF called
uary 1955 in Lucknow and it paid special attention to or-
upon the students of the country on 16 September 1965,
ganisational issues and the ongoing struggles for the lib-
to actively participate in the defense of the country and
eration of the Portuguese colony of Goa. AISF appealed
collected defence funds, organised donation of blood and
to the students to participate in the Goa liberation move-
took up other relief work. A mobile exhibition on na-
ment on a big scale. The AISF, Youth Congress and the
tional defense was organised by the AISF.
Samajwadi Yuvak Sabha organised joint programmes in
Delhi on 12 July. 9 August (1955) was observed as Por-
tuguese, Quit India day. 250 volunteers including 59
communists entered Goa on 3 August 1955. The Por- 3 Motto & Organisational struc-
tuguese soldiers opened re in which many were killed
including two Communists V.K. Thorat and Nityanand ture
Saha. Demonstrations were held on 5 August and stu-
dents went on strike on 13 August. More than 4 lakh stu- The organisation now works for the betterment of stu-
dents and others came out on the streets and widespread dents with its focus on peace, progress and scientic
strikes resulted. Satyagrahis from all over the country en- socialism. It has the banner "Freedom, Peace,
tered Goa on 15 August and were red upon. 23 year Progress."Study and Struggle is the motto of AISF.
4 7 EXTERNAL LINKS

AISF as an organisation has been continuously ghting
for the issues faced by students and the society at large. In
India the federation has organized several awareness pro-
grammes (Dramas, Street theatre performances, Mimes,
Dance, Short lms, etc.) and mass rallies to address
various social problems in states such as, West Bengal,
Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Karnataka, Pondicherry, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya
Pradesh, Tripura, Gujarat, Assam and Bihar.
The AISF has state committees in most states in India.
The Administration structure of the federation is as fol-
lows,
1. Polit Bureau - National executive body
2. State executive body
3. State administrative body
4. District administrative body
5. Block level committee
6. Institutions level unions
The AISF national level conference was held in Hyder-
abad University in 2013. During this conference the fol-
lowing leaders were elected as representatives,
Hemu Kalani - Sindh Freedom ghter and Student
leader, who was hanged to death by British
Satypal Dang - Former minister in the government
of Punjab
Atul Kumar Anjan - senior CPI leader and national
secretary.
Amarjeet Kour
V. S. Sunil Kumar - Minister of Agriculture in Ker-
ala
Benoy Viswam - Former national secretary of AISF
and Former minister in the Government of Kerala
O.N.V Kurup Malayalam poet & former leader
Malayatoor Ramakrishnan Malayalam writer &
former leader
T. Srinivas (Karnataka)
Soni Tangamam (Keral)
Ramkrishna Phanda (Orissa)
Vijendra Kesari

Kanhaiya Kumar - President of the Jawaharlal

4 AISF National Conferences Nehru University Students Union.

Founder Conference 12 and 13 th August 1936 Lucknow Vishwajeet Kumar - Present General secretary of
(Uttar Pradesh) AISF.

2 nd Conference on 22 November 1936, in Lahore Syed Valiullah Khadri- Present President of AISF
3 rd conference was held in Madras from 1 to 3 January Rakesh Kumar-vice president (Begusarai) AISF.
1938.
4th conference held in Calcutta on 1 and 2 January 1939
5th Conference was held on 12 January 1940 in Delhi. 6 References
6th conference was held at Nagpur, on 2526 December [1] Origin Of AISF In India. communistin-
1940. dian.wordpress.com. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
7th A Defense Convention of students was organised in
Delhi on 15 May 1942. Hemu Kalani
8th conference was held in Calcutta from 28 to 31 De-
cember 1944.
7 External links

5 Notable leaders Ocial website of AISF

P K Vasudevan Nair

A B Bardhan

C K Chandrappan

Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy - Present General sec-

retary of Communist Party of India.

D Raja
 5

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
All India Students Federation Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Students_Federation?oldid=773625295 Contributors:
SimonP, Henrygb, Utcursch, BozMo, Soman, Anirvan, Rich Farmbrough, Woohookitty, Bhadani, Paul foord, Wavelength, Grafen,
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2006, Bellerophon5685, Dylan Lake, Jagatmitr, JaGa, Anaxial, Philip Trueman, Arshadindia, Someguy1221, XLinkBot, Addbot, Yobot,
AnomieBOT, Abstruce, Lee2008, ArthurBot, LilHelpa, MohitSingh, Umasankarindia, Dineshmvpa, Bency4578, Engineer Anil Suchan,
Mentibot, ClueBot NG, Niteshkmr387, Urarary, BG19bot, 069952497a, Arshadsiddiqui446, Ibrahim Husain Meraj, Melcous, Ab-
hishek0831996, Kautilya3, Dhirendra kumar azad, Eric0928, Capankajsmilyo, Dineshgrkumar, Camhvs, ShriSanamKumar, Quartickho,
Iambic Pentameter, Akshaymithra, Abhisheksn, DrStrauss, Ms.navnit, AnuPrasad, INDIAN1997, AnilKambojEngineer and Anonymous:
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