Muted campuses in South Asia

Students in various colleges and universities in the United States of America (USA) have organised a series of protests on their campuses, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and free Palestine from the brutal occupation of Israel. The protest escalated last month, triggering violent responses from the authorities in many cases. Nevertheless, the movement has also spread to other campuses in Canada, Europe and Australia. It is shocking for the Western nations and their governments as most of them continue to back Israel and do little to stop the killing of the Palestinians in Gaza in the name of eliminating Hamas, the organisation that carried out an attack first inside the Jewish state on October 7. Protests made by university students in America and Europe have challenged the one-sided and biased narrative of Israel's self-defence and exposed the hypocrisy of the Western world.
The protesting students take the risk of termination of pursuance of their academic study and future careers. Many of them also faced intimidation from the authorities as the police brutally removed them from the campuses to put them behind the bar. However, it is encouraging to see Palestinian flags waving at some of the leading universities' campuses and buildings. Placards and banners inscribed with 'Stop Genocide, Free Palestine,' 'Save Gaza', 'Permanent Ceasefire', 'Divest from Israel Now,' and some others are displayed at these campuses. Students of Colombia University in the USA led the protest that spread to other campuses. The protesting students comprised various races, nations, and religions, and some Jewish students even joined them. While Western media mostly tried to portray distorted and negative images of the protests, other media outlets and social media presented positive sides of the protest with ground realities. So, it becomes difficult for the pro-Western press to ignore the magnitude of protests and sideline the coverage as they have been trying to do since October 7 on Israel's all-out war in Gaza.
Many called it the most significant student movement since the anti-Vietnam campus protests of the late 1960s that erupted in the USA. Critics, however, termed the protests as a misguided movement, and some even claimed that China and Russia back the protesting students in America and Europe.
It is puzzling to note that most of the campuses in Asia and Africa do not join the rally except a rare few. One cannot expect that any campus in the Arab world and China would do so, thanks to the autocratic regimes there. Except for South Africa, which takes a strong stance against Israeli genocide in Gaza, most of the countries in Africa seem less troubled regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian people. One valid question is what happened in democratic Asian countries like Bangladesh and India?
Strangely, campuses in South Asia are largely muted when large numbers of students in America and Europe have turned their campuses into a platform for advancing the cause of the Palestinian people and an independent state of Palestine. Historically well-known for democratic movements, the campuses in South Asia also witnessed a series of protests against various global injustices and wars. Now, these campuses are mostly silent, and there is no significant protest rally or demonstration except a few scattered brief gatherings as symbolic protests. In the 31-week-long war in Gaza, more than 36,000 people were killed, of which more than 15,000 were children, by the Israeli army and all the universities in Gaza were destroyed. People are starving there. Hospitals, medical facilities, schools and temporary shelters come under attacks regularly by the Israeli army. It is sad to note that students in South Asia have largely failed to be vociferous against the genocide. Surely they are not out of touch with the international affairs and that they have failed to express their solidarity with their counterparts in America and other countries is against the glorious tradition here and, therefore, a mystery.

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