Power Struggle
OXFORD JCRS CONSIDERED their stances towards the bombing of Afghanistan at the weekend after a motion at OUSU Council damning the current military actions of the US was postponed to allow colleges to debate the issue of war against the Taleban.
Robin Sivalapan, a second year from Somerville, submitted the motion to OUSU Council condemning American actions following the tragedy of September 11th. His motion states that the attacks on the World Trade Centre are a "crime against humanity", that it is the responsibility of OUSU to condemn 'Islamophobia' in the strongest terms, and that the Allied military retaliation will result in the "deaths of thousands more innocent people."
The motion was postponed at the request of various representatives from the JCRs, who wished to take such an important motion to their students to discuss how they should be mandated to respond.
OUSU President Ruth Hunt said of the motion: "The nature of OUSU Council is such that any member of the student body can bring a motion. I am pleased that the representatives of the Common Rooms decided it was necessary to take this motion back to the students for consultation. It is an indication that OUSU Council can work as a representative forum for Oxford students."
Sivalapan's motion on Friday followed a less contentious motion submitted by the VP-Welfare and the VP-Graduates. It proposed a simple and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism and a reaffirmation of OUSU policy to condemn racial and religious discrimination . This motion was passed at the meeting without major objections.
Sivapalan's motion however immediately caused disagreement. It was agreed that there was significant difficulty in dealing with the motion, as it attempted to cover such an important topic with such a wide approach. In accordance, it was voted that the motion be deferred to the next Council and sent back to Common Rooms for discussion.
Common Rooms across Oxford, and especially JCRs, have therefore been forced to face the difficult issue of forming policy on grave world events.
Wadham Students Union debated the issue in depth last Sunday. When an internal motion on Afghanistan was put before the SU there was immediately a call to amend the motion such that the SU would not discuss an event of such seriousness which has affected so many so personally. The amendment was passed, but the motion eventually failed after being thrashed out between SU members, meaning that the OUSU motion was then left to be discussed.
It was decided by Aneen Blackmore, Wadham Student Union President, that the best way to deal with the motion was to have a short discussion and to vote on a mandate for each part of the motion. Blackmore commented, "I agreed with the principles of the motion but thought the wording could have been more carefully chosen. I personally fully endorse the spirit of the motion, and now so too does Wadham SU."
The traditionally apathetic Christ Church JCR became a political minefield as Freshers became heavily involved in the debate. A mere discussion of the motion took over an hour to put through the meeting, and was hardly resolved by the end of the evening. Only the first resolve, to "condemn the New York massacre", was judged appropriate, with JCR representatives being left unsure as to what exactly to vote in the next Council meeting.
Both St Anne's College and Somerville JCRs supported the entirety of the motions, but other colleges have rejected the majority of them - for most, Sunday evening was a night of very heated debate.
Sacha Ismail, who seconded Sivalapan's sentiments, told the Oxford Student that he felt it very important that OUSU "should not just deal with practical issues - it should show solidarity with oppressed people". He condemned the "hideous reactionary atrocities of America at the time" and was pleased that JCR Presidents had finally "broken their silences" and would discuss such an important issue with the members of their colleges before coming to an informed response.
It is expected that there will be a move to throw the motion out from discussion completely on Friday from most JCR Presidents and OUSU representatives, following an historic and unresolved discussion across the entire university.
The motion will be put to Council again in Third Week.
18th Oct 2001