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{{Short description|Student organization in Kolkata, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2023}}
'''Independents' Consolidation (IC)''' is a student organization based in [[Presidency University, Kolkata]]. It was formed in the erstwhile Presidency College and has won all but five student union elections since its formation in 1989. It describes itself as a "non-partisan independent political platform" that is not affiliated to any established [[political party]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bag |first=Shamik |date=2014-03-29 |title=Kolkata Chromosome {{!}} Ideas, not ideology |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/R99xb5FO3h34j1U0T9gsmN/Kolkata-Chromosome--Ideas-not-ideology.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Chowdhury |first=Sunandan Roy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySIzDwAAQBAJ&dq=independents'+consolidation+presidency+college&pg=PA97 |title=Politics, Policy and Higher Education in India |date=2017-08-28 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-981-10-5056-5 |language=en}}</ref>

{{Infobox organisation
| name = Independents' Consolidation
| formation = 1989
| abbreviation = IC
| founding_location = [[Presidency University, Kolkata|Presidency University]]
| type = Student organisation
| status = Active
}}
[[File:Independents' Consolidation (iC) Official Logo 01.png|Independents' Consolidation (iC) Official Logo 02|131x131px]]

== History ==
The student body of Presidency University has traditionally voted for non-partisan outfits except for 1982, 2002–03, 2008-09<ref>{{Cite web |agency=TNN|date=1 Feb 2014 |title=Independents Consolidation sweeps student union elections in Presidency University {{!}} Kolkata News - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/independents-consolidation-sweeps-student-union-elections-in-presidency-university/articleshow/29677412.cms |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref> and 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-11-15 |title=SFI wins Kolkata's Presidency University students' union election after a decade |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/sfi-bags-all-top-four-posts-in-presidency-university-students-union-polls/article29979777.ece |access-date=2022-10-24 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> The origin of non-affiliated organizations in Presidency go back to the 1960s, with the [[Naxalbari uprising|pro-naxal]] Presidency College Students' Consolidation. Thereafter, the Presidency College Students' Steering Committee followed a politically middle course from 1975 to the early 1980s. The Presidency College Students’ Association (PCSA), with no stated or clear links to the earlier group, came into the picture in the early 1980s.

The events at [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen Square]] (1989) and the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|disintegration of the Soviet Union]] (1991) had a tremendous impact on the PCSA. Differences cropped up, leading to the formation of the IC in 1989. The announced agenda of the IC was to restore campus democracy and to resist campus violence. The IC broke away from radical left politics and reflected the disillusionment over left politics felt worldwide. Initially a [[Centrism|centrist]] organization, IC’s policies saw a [[Left-wing politics|leftward shift]] after the [[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]] government veered towards capitalist camps from 2002. Post [[Tata Nano Singur controversy|Singur]] and [[Nandigram violence]] orchestrated by the Left front, the IC became an alternative for those with leftist tendencies. The IC claims to draw its ideological foundations from mass uprisings like the [[May 68]] protests in [[France]], the [[Arab Spring]], the [[Occupy movement]], the [[Hok Kolorob Movement]],<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/hindustan-times-jalandhar/20150510/282041915700059 |access-date=2022-10-24 |via=PressReader}}</ref> the [[Citizenship Amendment Act protests|Anti-CAA protests]], and the [[2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest|Anti Farm Law protests]] - movements "led entirely by people's forces and not political parties".<ref name=":0" /> Sunandan Roy Chowdhury has identified The Free Thinkers of [[Jawaharlal Nehru University|JNU]] (in the late 1970s and the 1980s) and the Independents' Consolidation as two important examples where student politics had moved away from the fold of established parties.<ref name=":1" />

== Activities ==
The Independents' Consolidation has been active through both the Left regime (1989-2011) and the [[Trinamool Congress]] (2011–present) rule in [[Government of West Bengal|West Bengal]]. Except for 1982, 2002–03 and 2008–09, the IC has been able to keep the ruling party at bay from the Presidency College Students' Union.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Debaditya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gT9sDwAAQBAJ&dq=independents'+consolidation+presidency+college&pg=PT342 |title=The Idea of the University: Histories and Contexts |date=2018-09-03 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-81428-0 |language=en}}</ref> Consequently, the IC has been at the receiving end of violence orchestrated by both the [[Students' Federation of India|SFI]] (student wing of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|CPIM]]) and the TMC. On 21 February 2010, a first year IC supporter had to be hospitalized after being allegedly beaten up by members of SFI when winning candidates of the two organizations assembled for the formation of the college union.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-02-21 |title=One injured in Presidency clash |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/one-injured-in-presidency-clash/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> On 21 January 2012, a second-year political science student and an IC supporter survived after slashing his wrist when he was thrown out of the [[Eden Hindu Hostel]] following weeks of abuse and torture by SFI cadres.<ref>{{Cite web |agency=TNN|date=21 Jan 2012 |title=Harassed Presidency fresher slashes wrist in hostel {{!}} Kolkata News - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/harassed-presidency-fresher-slashes-wrist-in-hostel/articleshow/11574746.cms |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref>

On 18 March 2014, the Independents' Consolidation organized a referendum on whether the then TMC [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha|Member of Parliament]] [[Sugata Bose]] should continue as chairperson of the Presidency Mentor Group. Bose lost 1208 to 316.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Presidency students say 'no' to Sugata Bose as head of mentor group |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/presidency-students-say-no-to-sugata-bose-as-head-of-mentor-group/articleshow/32852823.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2022-10-24}}</ref> This was following the 2013 TMC attack on Presidency University, where TMC activists had attacked students and rampaged the historical Baker Laboratory with knives, sticks and javelins.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-04-11 |title=With knives, sticks, javelins: How TMC goons attacked Presidency University |url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/with-knives-sticks-javelins-how-tmc-goons-attacked-presidency-college-694665.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Firstpost |language=en}}</ref> Years following the [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP's]] rise to power in the Centre, Independents' Consolidation has been active in the Anti-CAA protests and the Anti Farm Law protests.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Independents' Consolidation had been part of the Hindu Hostel movement<ref>{{Cite news |agency=PTI |date=2018-08-05 |title=Presidency students vow to continue stir over hostel |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/presidency-students-vow-to-continue-stir-over-hostel/article24610397.ece |access-date=2022-10-24 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> that ensured the reopening of the hostel after three years in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Desk |first=Main |date=2018-11-26 |title=Presidency Reopens Hindu Hostel After Three Years |url=https://newsmen.in/news/presidency-reopens-hindu-hostel-after-three-years/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=NEWSMEN |language=en-GB |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024184318/https://newsmen.in/news/presidency-reopens-hindu-hostel-after-three-years/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In May 2021, Independents' Consolidation demanded that the university authority allow the use of the campus as a safe home for non-critical patients to ease the pressure on hospital beds during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=সংবাদদাতা |first=নিজস্ব |title=COVID-19 {{!}} প্রেসিডেন্সি হোক সেফ হোম, আবেদন পড়ুয়াদের |url=https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/kolkata/coronavirus-in-kolkata-students-of-presidency-university-demand-to-use-campus-as-safe-home/cid/1278740 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.anandabazar.com |language=bn}}</ref> Although permissions were secured from the [[Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (West Bengal)|State Health Department]], the university did not allow the project to go on.<ref>{{Cite web |title=সেফ হোম খুলতে উদ্যোগী হিন্দু স্কুল, প্রেসিডেন্সি চুপ |url=https://eisamay.com/west-bengal-news/kolkata-news/hindu-school-wants-to-open-safe-home-to-prevent-covid-19-infection/articleshow/83233183.cms |access-date=2022-10-25 |website=EI Samay |language=bn}}</ref>

Independents' Consolidation campaigned for the revival of admission tests in 2021, after the university shifted to admissions based on +2 marks during the pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Students seek revival of Presidency University entry tests |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/news/students-seek-revival-of-presidency-university-entry-tests/cid/1863887 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1989 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Student organisations in India]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata]]

Independents' Consolidation - Revision history

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