Shehla Rashid becomes first Kashmiri girl to win JNU polls

Shehla Rashid Shora, the first Kashmiri girl to contest and win the Central Panel elections at the the Jawaharlal Nehru University, says that she found the political space in her state "too restricted".

Shora, a candidate of left-backed All India Students Union (AISA), was sworn in as the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) Vice President amid shouts of "lal salaam" here yesterday.
The engineer-turned-activist polled 1,387 votes, maximum by any candidate this year. She trumped BJP youth wing ABVP's Valentina Brahma by 234 votes.

"After studying engineering and management, I entered the corporate world only to be disillusioned by it. Turning an activist, I raised issues of juvenile justice and acid attacks in Kashmir but I found the political space there too restricted," she said.

"At JNU, I found there is enough space to articulate your political spirit. The challenge, however, was to convince voters in favour of a Kashmir woman from a non-political background," she added.

Asked about the issues she plans to focus on during her tenure, she listed 24X7 health centre, translation cell, reduction in minimum eligibility criteria for OBC students, more hostels and upgradation of on-campus safety.

Shora said she wants "to confront the rise of the right-wing ideology" to prevent it from changing the "real history".

"Left has a progressive ideology and hence, a progressive understanding is needed in the society. There is a forthcoming neo-liberal attack on education, another anti-people onslaught of the BJP government, which we must resist," she said. 

Shora graduated in computer engineering from NIT, Srinagar, and studied political leadership at IIM Bangalore. At JNU, she is pursuing her MPhil in Law and Governance.

She said she is yet to take a call on pursing a career in mainstream politics. "But, I back the Left ideology and will continue to work for human rights issues, internet democracy and against privatisation of education."

The new JNUSU panel took oath yesterday. Out of the total 22 candidates who tested their electoral fortunes for the Central Panel, Kanahiya Kumar, the nominee of CPI' student wing  All India Students' Federation (AISF) bagged the Presidential post, opening the party's account in the student union polls.

While the ABVP made a comeback to JNUSU after a gap of 14 years wresting the Joint Secretary post, AISA which had swept the polls during last two years, managed two seats-Vice President and General Secretary.

In the JNUSU polls held on September 11, more than 53 per cent students had exercised their franchise. 31 councillors belonging to several schools in JNU were also declared elected yesterday.

JNUSU is the representative body of the students in the varsity. The polls have been keenly contested over decades.