All India Students' Federation

Pre-independence

AISF was founded on 12 August 1936 at a conference in Lucknow, with the backing of leaders from Indian independence movement. The foundation conference of the AISF was held at Ganga Prasad Memorial Hall with 936 delegates from across India. The conference was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, and presided over by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The conference resolved to establish the federation and Prem Narayan Bhargava was elected as the first general secretary.

The second conference of the AISF was held three months later, beginning on 22 November 1936 in Lahore. It mainly discussed and adopted the constitution of the AISF. The conference was attended by about 150 delegates under the presidency of Sarat Chandra Bose. The conference was also addressed by Govind Ballabh Pant. It passed a resolution condemning the intervention by Nazi Germany into the affairs of Republican Spain. The conference also agreed to affiliate the AISF with the World Students' Association.

Hemu Kalani, an AISF leader, was arrested by the British army in 1942 for leading the Quit India Movement, and publicly hanged in 1943 at the age of 19. AISF leader Kanaklata Barua was another student leader who died participating in the fight for independence.

An AISF delegation visited the Bengal state during the famine of 1943 and engaged in relief activities.

During the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in Bombay in February 1946, the AISF helped to mobilise students in support of the Naval Ratings.

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AISF in Quit India Movement

Hemu Kalani, an AISF activist from Sindh, who was arrested by the British during the Quit India Movement and later executed. The article presents him as one of the prominent student martyrs of the movement.
In the United Provinces (UP), AISF activists such as Sarjoo Pandey organised resistance. The article describes protests, underground activities, arrests and repression by the British.
At Banaras Hindu University (BHU), AISF and other student groups participated in demonstrations and strikes. The article notes cooperation between different student organisations despite their ideological differences.
In Bihar, AISF leaders including Chandrasekhar Singh, Rahul Sankrityayan and Indradeep Sinha were attending an AISF conference when the Quit India Movement began. The conference subsequently became a centre for discussion and mobilisation.
A large student demonstration in Patna on 12 August 1942, followed by police repression, including lathi-charge and firing. It names several AISF activists who were arrested or injured.
AISF participation in Satara, where Nana Patil's Prati Sarkar emerged as an important parallel/underground nationalist administration. Students and peasants reportedly formed an important part of its underground network.
AISF activists from Bihar, Ahmedabad and other regions participating in demonstrations, underground organisation, distribution of revolutionary literature and resistance to British rule.

AISF in independent India

After independence, the AISF concentrated its activities mainly on educational issues, anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, providing a platform for student unity against common threats. The AISF played a central role in the Telangana Rebellion against the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The AISF continued to fight for Indian unity with the Goa liberation movement. Satyagrahis from across India entered Goa on 15 August 1955 and were fired upon. 23-year-old Karnail Singh Benipal was killed when he tried to save his leader V. D. Chitale. The general secretary of the AISF, Sukhendu Mazumdar, was present with AISF leader C. K. Chandrappan on 15 August at the Goa border to help the student satyagrahis.

The AISF participated in the Kothari Commission report, which provided the basis for broad educational reforms in India.

In the 1980s, during the Khalistan movement, the AISF, under the leadership of General Secretary Satyapal Dang, received armed training to counter Khalistan militants. Harpal Mohali, the AISF leader from Mohali, led movements in Panjab University. In response to his attempt to counter Khalistan, Mohali was shot by militants and left paralysed. Many AISF activists were killed fighting against Khalistan separatism.

State-level presence

The AISF has a strong presence in Kerala, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Assam, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, and Punjab, and in most universities in the country.

Activities

Protest and demands

The AISF protested against the National Education Policy in 2019 and the proposed increase in university fees.
AISF members were active in multiple Citizenship Amendment Act protests in 2019.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, AISF activists called for the distribution of essential products in various states. The federation set up COVID-19 helpline numbers in various states to help students, and also distributed facemasks and hand sanitiser.
The AISF held a hunger strike in August 2021, demanding a fresh job calendar in Andhra Pradesh. The federation has also campaigned against the privatisation of schools and colleges in the state.
AISF activists protested against alleged errors in results of the Railway Recruitment Control Board's Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRCB NTPC) exam, during Bihar Bandh, in Patna on 28 January 2022.
The AISF organised a national convention, "Reject NEP 2020" against the National Education Policy (NEP) on 15 May 2022 in Chennai. The convention called for a united front of students and teachers of all educational institutions for the withdrawal of the NEP, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).

2026 Neet Protest

During the 2026 protests concerning the alleged leak and cancellation of the NEET-UG examination, AISF participated in demonstrations and mobilisation activities in support of affected students. AISF activists joined protests demanding accountability for alleged irregularities in the examination process, action against those responsible for paper leaks, and reforms aimed at ensuring the transparency and credibility of public examinations. The organisation also called for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and raised concerns regarding the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). In several locations, AISF coordinated with other student and youth organisations and participated in solidarity protests connected with the wider student movement. AISF activists were reported to have taken part in demonstrations in Chennai and Mumbai, while the organisation also helped coordinate the participation of students and supporters from Maharashtra in protests in Delhi. Through protest marches, demonstrations, public campaigns and organisational mobilisation, AISF contributed to expanding the issue beyond individual examination centres and linking it to wider concerns regarding examination security, accountability and the rights of students.

Hindu-symbolism disputes

Source:

In July 2025, Kerala's Governor displayed a portrait of Bharat Mata at an official university function, AISF treated this as a political overreach by the Governor into his role as a university Chancellor.

AISF activists breached police barricades to enter the campus demanding the portrait's removal, threatening to block the Governor if it stayed, and stand-off resulted in a clash with the organizers. The Kerala High Court later weighed in on the issue, with a judge questioning "How Bharat Mata could be classified as a religious symbol?"

The AISF runs Sramajibi Canteen and is involved in various other social work.

LGBT issues

The AISF actively supports LGBT rights. In 2022, AISF state committee member Nadira Mehrin became the first transgender person to contest in a student union election at Kerala University, and also contested as the AISF candidate for chairperson of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), the first time a transgender person had led a candidates' panel for a university election in the state.

Motto and organisational structure

The organisation's original motto, reflecting its focus on peace, progress and scientific socialism, was "Freedom, Peace and Progress". This was amended at the 1958 National Convention, and the motto since then has been "Study & Struggle".

The administrative structure of the federation includes:

National executive body
State executive body
State administrative body
District administrative body
Block level committee
Institutions level unions

Present leadership

At the 30th AISF National Conference, held in September to October 2023 in Begusarai, Bihar, Vicky Mahesari from Punjab was elected as National President and Dinesh Seerangaraj from Tamil Nadu was elected as General Secretary. Veeraboina Mahesh Yadav is President of All India Students' Federation at Ghatkesar, Medchal, Telangana.

On 30 June 2024, Viraaj Devang from Maharashtra who served as National Treasurer was elected as the new National President.

Notable leaders

Aruna Asaf Ali- Indian educator
G. R. Anil - Minister of Food and civil supplies in Kerala
Atul Kumar Anjan - senior CPI leader and national secretary.
A. B. Bardhan - Former General secretary of the Communist Party of India
Kanaklata Barua - Independence activist
C. K. Chandrappan - Parliamentarian
Satyapal Dang - Former minister in the government of Punjab
Inder Kumar Gujral - Former Prime Minister of India
Hemu Kalani - Sindh independence activist and Student leader, hanged to death by British
Amarjeet Kaur - General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress
Kanhaiya Kumar- Former President of JNUSU and current AICC in-charge of the National Student's Union of India
V. S. Sunil Kumar - Former Minister of Agriculture in Kerala
O. N. V. Kurup – Malayalam poet & former leader
Muhammed Muhsin - Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly representing Pattambi constituency
Biswanath Mukherjee - Former leader of the Communist Party of India and one of the founder of AISF in Bengal.
P. K. Vasudevan Nair - Former Chief Minister of Kerala
P. Prasad - Minister of Agriculture in Kerala
D. Raja - Current General secretary of the Communist Party of India.
K. Rajan - Minister of Revenue in Kerala
Malayattoor Ramakrishnan – Malayalam writer and former leader
J. Chinchu Rani - Minister of Animal Husbandry in Kerala
Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy - Former General secretary of the Communist Party of India.
Karpoori Thakur - Former Chief Minister of Bihar
Rajaji Mathew Thomas - Former Vice-president of World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and Former MLA in Kerala
M. Vijayan - Indian structural biologist
Binoy Viswam - National secretary of AISF and Former minister in the Government of Kerala
Chandrajit Yadav - former member of parliament
Durga Prasad Dhar - Former foreign minister
Ali Sardar Jafri - progressive writer
Sibte Hasan Zaidi - scientist
Rahi Masoom Raza - poet, writer
Kirti Nidhi Bista - Prime Minister of Nepal