Students of today are the future guardians of a nation. They are the moulders and builders of the next generation of a country. What a nation will be in future is said to be decided in classrooms. So, we may say that student’s participation in politics is most essential to make them enlightened citizens of a country. Again, particularly in our country where a majority of the people are ignorant and illiterate, the student community has a special duty to perform. Hence, as the torch bearer of tomorrow their primary duty is not only to study but to qualify themselves well for the greater tasks of tomorrow.
Politics is the art of governing the state. The destiny of a country depends largely on its politicians. But now a days politics has become the last resort of the scoundrels. The persons, who have been rejected by decent society, usually take to politics. Most politicians now are corrupted, self-centered, unscrupulous and valueless. They are held responsible for most ills of the society today. In this content, it is not advisable for students to participate in politics at the formative stage in their life.
Another fact, why the students should not participate in politics is that the politicians lure away innocent students for transitory gains. In reality, they wish to advance their own interests in order to have pockets of power and influence. Once they have succeeded in making students participate in their dirty games, they either discard them or start using them in order to meet their own ends. This leads to frustration among the students. They start losing interest in their studies. So, students should keep them in a safe distance from politics.
Another most important factor why students should stay away from politics is, the game of politics now has hardly any law or any ethical code of conduct. Shifting loyalties, changing alliances, hypocrisy, diplomacy and cheating are its very characteristics. The tactics adopted by politicians are very mean. The craze for power makes them blind. So if students associate themselves with politics they become involved in all its dirt and ugliness and become mere pawns on the chessboard of politics.
Students in ancient India had nothing to do with politics. Their activities were confirmed to purely physical, intellectual and spiritual development under the noble influence of their gurus. Only students came into politics when Gandhiji, the father of our nation gave a call to the youth of our country to participate in the freedom movement. But was that like the nasty politics of our present time? No, that was for a great and noble cause, for making mother India free from British rule. But the politics of free India, particularly of the recent times is not the sake of our mother India, but for keeping money in foreign banks or for enjoying the absolute power which is just more than that of a king or monarch. Therefore, students, as the devotees of the holy temple of learning should not indulge themselves in this adulterated activity. Once they become entangled in the intricate web of politics, it becomes difficult to intricate them from its ugly net.