India: The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in the state of Tamil Nadu, including its structure, objectives, political affiliations, and activities; instances of conflict with other political parties (1998-October 2012)

1. Background

The DYFI was created on 3 November 1980 at an inaugural conference at Saheed Kartar Singh Saraba Village in Ludhiana, Punjab (DYFI n.d.a). According to the website of the DYFI in Kerala [southwest India], it is the "largest youth organisation that is a constituent of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY)" (DYFI Kerala n.d.a). The WFDY consists of youth organizations in various countries that "wish to coordinate their efforts for...the interest of youth" (WFDY 10 Dec. 1990).

2. Structure

The DYFI website states that the DYFI central committee elected at the 8th All India Conference from 7 - 11 May 2007 consists of a president, vice presidents, a general secretary, joint secretaries, a treasurer, and secretariat members, as well as central executive committee members in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, "T.Y.F", Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and "Centre" (n.d.f). According to the DYFI Kerala, "anyone" can be a member of the DYFI (DYFI Kerala n.d.b).

3. Objectives

According to its website, the DYFI is "working to build a powerful youth movement to fight for a democratic and progressive social system and for the upliftment and betterment of the youth community as a whole" (1 Oct. 2010). The DYFI says that it fights for "scientific socialism" (DYFI n.d.a). According to the DYFI website, DYFI's objectives are:

"jobs for all," including advocating for employment advances such as: adding the right to employment in the constitution, industrialization, the implementation of self-employment projects, and unemployment benefits;

education for all, including advocating for free education, compulsory education until secondary school, and fighting illiteracy;

empowerment of youth (DYFI n.d.a).

The DYFI further states on its website that it "seeks to organise and mobilise youth to fight against the forces of authoritarianism and dictatorship" and strives to mobilize youth to fight against various forms of oppression and discrimination based on "race, sex, caste, religion, language and region" (DYFI n.d.b). The DYFI states that it aims to "unite all the secular and democratic forces against conservatism, casteism, communalism, separatism, parochialism and authoritarianism, and in defense of secularism, democracy and national integrity" (ibid. n.d.a). The organization declares that it supports struggles for the "nationalisation of all key industries and for carrying out radical land reforms" (ibid.). The DYFI says it also encourages youth to support various "democratic movements of the people: workers, peasants, middle classes, students..." (ibid.). The DYFI says it opposes "anti-democracy and sectarian movements," "anti-people economic policies" led by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization, "imperialist aggression" (ibid.), colonization and neo-colonization, monopoly capitalism, and feudal and semi-feudal landlordism (ibid. n.d.b).

4. Political Affiliations

Media sources describe the DYFI as the "youth wing" of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] (The Hindu 13 Jan. 2013; Press Trust of India 12 Aug. 2012). However, according to the DYFI Kerala website, "DYFI is not a wing of any political party" (DYFI Kerala n.d.b).

According to the Hindu, a 2008 DYFI conference in Chennai added a provision to the DYFI constitution "affiliating 'like-minded' youth organisations to the federation" (15 Sept. 2012).

5. Activities

According to the DYFI, the group organizes debates and seminars, as well as cultural, sports and literary activities (DYFI n.d.a). The DYFI indicates that they participate in "relief and rehabilitation programs during national calamities, accidents and epidemics" (ibid.). The DYFI says that they provide blood and eye donations (ibid. n.d.c). DYFI Kerala states that the organization is involved in "various charitable activities" (DYFI Kerala n.d.b). The DYFI also states that they "intervene and bring about peace in the states of Punjab, Assam and Darjeeling" (DYFI n.d.c). The DYFI indicates that they have organized "historic and massive" marches to parliament in 1981, 1987, 1995 and 2000 (ibid.).

Sources report on a variety of DYFI activities, including:

a campaign against the Indo-US nuclear deal (DYFI 19 Sept. 2008; The Hindu 21 July 2008);

calls for pickets of government offices because of high oil prices (DYFI 2 Jan. 2009; The Hindu 27 June 2011);

an All India Youth Convention on Employment in Banga Bhawan, New Delhi (DYFI 12 Feb. 2010);

calls for several protests (DYFI 22 Mar. 2011; DYFI n.d.g), including a nationwide protest against NATO's "military aggression on Libya" (ibid. 22 Mar. 2011), protests against violence in Jammu and Kashmir (DYFI n.d.g; CPI(M) 29 Aug. 2010), and protests against corruption (DYFI 19 Nov. 2010; The Hindu 10 Sept. 2012);

a road blockade against unemployment (DYFI [2 Aug. 2010]; The Hindu 4 Aug. 2010).

6. DYFI in Tamil Nadu

According to DYFI statistics, in 2007, the organization had 844,875 members in Tamil Nadu (DYFI n.d.d). The DYFI reports that, in 2006, the organization had 33,489,665 members throughout India (DYFI n.d.e). However, on 15 September 2012, The Hindu, an independent daily newspaper "focusing on news from the Southern states of India" (Factiva n.d.a), reported that the DYFI had 162,000 members, "primarily in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Tripura," and added that membership in Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh had increased since 2008.

The Hindu reports on several activities of the DYFI in Tamil Nadu, including:

organizing blood donation camps (The Hindu 30 June 2011);

protesting increases in petroleum prices, which included "slogans against the Congress-led UPA Government for its 'anti-people' policies" and calls for the Prime Minister to resign (ibid. 24 May 2012);

organizing "awareness rallies" educating youth about drugs, "obscene" videos, and tobacco (ibid. 2 Oct. 2012);

laying siege to offices, including working with the Students' Federation of India to lay siege to the office of an Assistant Elementary Education Officer because of plans to promote a "headmaster" that allegedly sexually abused six Dalit students (ibid. 8 Dec. 2011), and laying siege to the office of Civil Supplies to protest the delay in the issuance of ration cards and the "corrupt" issuing process (ibid. 28 Dec. 2010);

demonstrating to "prevent the exorbitant fee collection by private schools" (ibid. 7 June 2011);

protesting the increased duration of electricity cuts (ibid.23 Sept. 2012).

Information corroborating these activities could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Sources report on arrests of DYFI members in Tamil Nadu (Behind India 5 Feb. 2010; The Hindu 17 Dec. 2010). On 3 February 2010, 600 DYFI members were arrested for their "agitation" to oppose the Tamil Nadu government's plan to reemploy government employees on contracts (Behind India 5 Feb. 2010). In December 2010, 40 DYFI members were arrested as they were blocking a road as part of a demonstration; they were reportedly released on the same day (The Hindu 17 Dec. 2010). Corroborating information on these arrests could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

7. Incidents with Political Parties

Several sources reported on incidents between the DYFI and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala, which include the following:

According to the Hindu, on 1 December 2008, DYFI activists "allegedly attacked" a vehicle of workers of the IUML, which led to a "bloody clash" (3 Dec. 2008);

On 2 August 2012, the Free Press Journal, a daily newspaper published in Mumbai (Factiva n.d.c), reported that the DYFI Cheekkanam unit president was killed in a clash between the CPI(M) and the IUML. On 14 August 2012, The Hindu reported that according to a CPI(M) district secretary, IUML activists had not been arrested for this death "due to the political influence exerted by IUML," which is part of the ruling coalition;

On 12 August 2012, the Press Trust of India, a "real-time news wire" in India (Factiva n.d.b), reported that the Kerala state secretary of the DYFI was accused of the February 2012 murder of an IUML activist.

The Hindu reports on incidents involving the DYFI and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Kerala (The Hindu 21 Apr. 2008; ibid. 9 Nov. 2008). In 2013, the International Business Times, a New York-based digital news publication (International Business Times n.d.), described the RSS as "a right-wing, Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization that, among other things, seeks to impose Hindu supremacy in India, reduce or eliminate the influence of Islam in the nation and restore traditional values" (ibid. 8 Jan. 2013). On 25 March 2009, the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal stated that the RSS is aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (Australia 25 Mar. 2009). The reported incidents between the DYFI and the RSS or the BJP in Kerala include the following:

On 21 April 2008, the Hindu reported that a DYFI functionary was allegedly attacked by RSS members and hospitalized. The Hindu states that the attack was allegedly in retaliation for the attempted killing of an RSS member by the CPI(M) (21 Apr. 2008).

On 4 July 2008, the Times of India, an English-language daily newspaper in India (Factiva n.d.d), reported that a DYFI member was killed by alleged BJP workers.

On 9 November 2008, the Hindu reported that the local committee secretary of the DYFI Vanchiyoor unit was arrested by Thiruvananthapuram [Kerala] police in connection to the death of an RSS activist. The Hindu adds that, according to the investigating officer, the RSS activist was killed in retaliation for the killing of a CPI(M) activist (9 Nov. 2008).

Sources report on other incidents in Kerala involving the DYFI, including:

On 2 November 2000, the Press Trust of India reported that an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member was allegedly attacked by a DYFI member;

On 27 October 2003, the Hindu reported a clash between the SNDP's [Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana] youth movement and the DYFI regarding a lake encroachment issue;

On 12 April 2005, the Hindu reported that police accused DYFI members of detonating bombs "against a mob that attacked the colony" in Kerala in what is known as the "Poovar EMS Colony communal riot case";

On 14 January 2009, the Hindu reported that, according to the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM)'s Kollam diocese unit, DYFI members "were unleashing violence on its members especially in the Eravipuram and Kottiyam parishes." KCYM's director reportedly said that "KCYM's popularity in the Eravipuram area had frustrated the CPI(M) and the DYFI, which found it difficult to enrol new members there" (The Hindu 14 Jan. 2009). On 3 April 2009, the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal reported that the "Kerala Catholic Church has, historically, supported the Congress Party in Kerala (the CPI-M's principal rival in Kerala electoral state politics)..." (Australia 3 Apr. 2009);

Sources report on incidents outside of Kerala involving the DYFI, including:

On 28 July 2009, the Secretary of the DYFI West Bengal State Committee issued a press release indicating that three DYFI organizers "were harshly attacked by a Naxalite group" in Jalpaiguri, and that one was killed during the attack (DYFI 28 July 2009);

On 20 October 2009, the Times of India reported that a DYFI member was killed by "suspected Maoists" in West Bengal;

On 5 January 2010, the DYFI posted a press release on their website demanding the government "to take stringent action against the Shiv Sena goonda gangs in Mumbai who are out to disturb peace by issuing threats and resorting to all sorts of vandalism" (DYFI 5 Jan. 2010). According to the DYFI, the Shiv Sena "has patented this style of beating innocent people, targeting North Indians, issuing fatwas in the name of language, region and religion in order to terrorise the common people," to which the government is not taking action (5 Jan. 2010).

On 17 March 2012, the Hindustan Times, a Delhi-based daily newspaper (Factiva n.d.e), reported that the mining mafia killed a DYFI activist in Tamil Nadu.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Australia. 3 April 2009. Refugee Review Tribunal. RRT Research Response IND34585. [Accessed 28 June 2013]

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Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). 22 March 2011. "News - DYFI Calls for Nationwide Protests Against NATO's Military Aggression on Libya." [Accessed 20 June 2013]

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_____. 1 October 2010. "Press Release - 1/10/2010." [Accessed 20 June 2013]

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_____. N.d.a. "About Us." [Accessed 20 June 2013]

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_____. N.d.c. "Movement." [Accessed 20 June 2013]

_____. N.d.d. "Membership Details Year Wise." [Accessed 20 June 2013]

_____. N.d.e. "Membership." [Accessed 20 June 2013]

_____. N.d.f. "Central Committee." [Accessed 28 June 2013]

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_____. 10 September 2012. "DYFI Cadre Take Out Protest Rally." [Accessed 3 July 2013]

_____. 14 August 2012. "CPI(M) Resents Laxity of Police in Arresting Accused." (Factiva)

_____. 24 May 2012. "Petrol Price Increase Sparks Protests by Outfits." (Factiva)

_____. 8 December 2011. S. Sundar. "Students Lay Siege to Education Office." (Factiva)

_____. 30 June 2011. "Effort to Encourage Blood Donation." (Factiva)

_____. 27 June 2011. "DYFI to Picket Central Offices." [Accessed 3 July 2013]

_____. 7 June 2011. "Implement Uniform System of Education Without Delay: DYFI." (Factiva)

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_____. 4 August 2010. "Road Blockade by DYFI Activists." [Accessed 3 July 2013]

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_____. 21 July 2008. "CPI(M) to Continue Protest Against N-deal: Yechury." (Factiva)

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_____. 12 April 2005. "Poovar Riot Case: EMS Colony Resident Arrested." [Accessed 28 June 2013]

_____. 27 October 2003. "Kumarakom Tense After Clash." [Accessed 28 June 2013]

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Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Ecoi.net; Freedom House; Human Rights Watch; India - Ministry of Home Affairs; International Crisis Group; International Foundation for Electoral Systems; Political Handbook of the World; United Nations - Integrated Regional Information Networks, Refworld; United States - Department of State, Law Library of Congress; World Bank; World Organization Against Torture.