Heirs to Resistance: Adarsh and Srijan to Lead SFI

Palestine Solidarity Nagar (Kozhikode): Adarsh M Saji and Srijan Bhattacharya have been elected to lead the revolutionary student movement of India, the SFI, both on campus and in broader arenas of struggle.

The Grit of Adarsh on the Path of Resistance

Adarsh M Saji, now the All India President of SFI, has led several student protests and movements. His revolutionary spirit was shaped through agitations seeking justice for the children of ordinary people who were forced to study without textbooks under the UDF government, and for students who ended their lives due to exploitation by managements. He walked the path of struggle without wavering, even after surviving brutal police assaults.

After completing Plus Two, he joined SN Polytechnic College, Kottiyam, where he became a member of SFI. He served as Chathannoor Local Secretary and Unit Joint Secretary. Later, while pursuing a BA in Mass Communication at SN College, Kollam, he became even more active in student politics. He was elected as University Union Councillor and later as General Secretary of the Kerala University Union. He also served as a member of the University Academic Council.

Currently in his final year of LLB at Janhit College, Delhi, Adarsh was elected District Secretary of SFI in 2018. In the same year, he became the State Vice President and a member of the Central Committee. He was also part of the editorial board of SFI’s official magazine Student. Since 2022, he has been serving as the Central Joint Secretary and is also the editor of Student Struggle.

Adarsh has led student protests in several states including Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Puducherry. He was one of the key organisers of the student protest held in front of the Israeli Embassy in Delhi against the attacks on Palestine. He also led several agitations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

He is a member of the CPI M Kollam District Committee and the son of farmer Saji Mathew Jacob and Suja John from Chathannoor, Kollam. His brother, Abhilash M Saji, is the area correspondent of Deshabhimani in Chathannoor.

The Fighting Spirit of Bengal

In Bengal, the Left is resisting the excesses of the Trinamool Congress, BJP, and the police. Srijan Bhattacharya, the All India General Secretary of SFI, is a front-line fighter of this movement seeking a resurgence through the new generation. He holds a postgraduate degree in History.

Srijan became an SFI member in 2007 while in Class 7 and has been active in student struggles ever since. He has served as Local Secretary and District Joint Secretary of SFI, and twice as the State Secretary of SFI Bengal. He joined the Central Committee in 2017 and currently serves as its Joint Secretary.

Under his leadership, SFI in Bengal has been fiercely opposing the anti-people policies of the Mamata government. The SFI has secured victories in colleges and universities where democratic elections were conducted. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SFI led a strong protest in Kolkata against the government’s decision to reopen pubs while keeping schools closed.

Srijan was at the forefront of protests following the suicide of a female student at RG Kar Medical College. He has been subjected to police brutality on multiple occasions. During an agitation against fee hikes, he suffered a head injury from a police baton and had to undergo lengthy medical treatment. He has also faced multiple attacks from Trinamool goons.

Srijan is striving to restore SFI’s strength in Bengal’s campuses. He is a member of the CPI M West Bengal State Committee. He contested the Singur assembly seat in the last state election and the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat in the general election as a Left Front candidate. He is the son of Dr. Arindam Bhattacharya and the late Suranjana Bhattacharya. His wife, Taushali Ray, is a college lecturer.