JNU: The Kanhaiya Effect – A Great Fall
JNU grew with its intellectual resource of students and
teachers, in-depth research orientation and recognised ability of quality
leadership and cosmopolitan spirit.
Since its inception it had broad based national outlook with
accommodating space for various thoughts and ideologies. Though it had loved to be called leftist
institution, it had never disallowed dissentions, debates and doubts to be
raised and discussed on a common platform with ultimately agreeing to disagree,
if needed, and that was all. JNU lived
to be apolitical and areligious institution in its early years of existence.
Over the years, it started changing its colours. Those were the days when progressive views
were related to leftism. Even government
had shown its deep attention towards the left wing politics for cooperation and
adjustment. Nehruism was an accepted philosophy and Indira Gandhi was there to
implement it. During 1970s and 1980s JNU
had its share of changing character with ideologically accepted leftism of
various hues and shades. But the decade
of mid 1980s and 1990s witnessed a great upheaval. The national political scenario changed with
passing away of Indira Gandhi, surfacing of the Bofors scam, and emergence of
lively hydra of Mandialisation that engulfed the country as brought about by a
no nincompoop PM, who lost the vote of confidence, face to face in Parliament,
losing dignity and the post. He was the
architect of disturbing the social fabric of India for all times to come.
VP Singh flashed on Indian horizon like a meteorite
shining as a silver line, falling down sharply.
He had two credits earned for his report card, one – the Bofors and the
other – The Mandal Report. Both created
such a heavy impact on the politics and society in India that it changed the
very relationship of caste and its role in power sharing. It served as caste accentuation rather than
removing or equalising it. An
unstoppable phenomenon, it rakes the society and people, from time to time,
asserting and demanding more power, prestige and privileges by creating rift
within. From courts to the constitution,
streets to the Parliament, a dead silence prevails over the helpless aspect of
this growing demand for right to preserve posts, promotion and power. No democratic society is so divisive,
separatist and fragmented on caste lines and groups, officially, as is
ours. And yet we find a cultural cord
that binds us like a garland fragile but compact.
Unaware of the fact as to what is happening at JNU, the
intellectual community of India’s most prestigious and highly funded
institution, is confronted with two dreaded dragons of organised separatism and
caste behaviourism hither to unknown to the university. It is a home grown phenomenon which gets
concentrated with irresponsible administration and bad management. If you cannot keep your flock together, it is
your fault. If you don’t give a proper
engaging academic calendar and schedule to your students, it is your
mistake. Academic freedom does not mean
providing so much time and latitude to students to organise a
tahrir-square-like revolting situation against the nation or the
university. Neither JNU nor the country
is under dictatorship. Why then so much
hue and cry? There is IIT adjacent to
JNU. Why such problems don’t arise
there?
The country in general and the Hindi heartland in
particular, had provided extremely caste based politics to our democratic
system. It is well organised and
operative. Every caste has a group and
every group has its caste leader. They
feel elevated when they are organised on caste lines. They are not micro units. They are as big as a whole province. Sometimes they spread over to other
provinces. They camouflage as a
political party, but they are organised as a mammoth caste group and have a
caste leader. This political form
infiltrated recently in JNU student’s union body. The other dominant leadership flourished on the
campus was of ultra-red and separatist body.
They sometime mingle together and create confusion among the
students. But the leadership goes on
intact thriving on the confused scenario.
Kanhaiya is the product of this confusion, chaos and
charisma of an organised caste behaviourism now prevailing on the campus. It is
nothing to do with CPI or CPM or their students’ wings. There is nothing revolutionary in his
approach, speech or sloganeering except that the politics of divisiveness,
caste vendetta and hateful social activism dominates his campus
leadership. Instead of carving a new
path, showing new programmes and bringing novelty in his thought process and
action for developing the campus more conducive to student’s welfare, Kanhaiya
adopts his typical home made politics of regional belt to degrade his position
as a president of a progressive institution.
His views are much scattered, weird and inconclusive. His ‘Azadi’ slogans smack of something crude,
out dated and irrelevant ways which do not conform to the modern day life and
blindfolds the new perspective of living.
He wants Azadi from everything except from his ‘human bondage’ which, in
essence, is the real cause of serfdom.
He thinks his leadership consists of hatred towards other groups which
he does not belong to. He wants ‘Azadi’
from ‘Brahmanwad’ but sticks to his ‘Dalitwad’, attaches greater importance to
backwardness, benefits and perks. He
wants Azadi from Manuwad, Sanghwad, Modietva or Hinduatva as a whole. But this concept of Azadi is misnomer. Azadi or freedom is a constitutional
concept. You should not misinterpret
it. What type of freedom from the
country you expect? Don’t pull down the
freedom concept by unnecessarily attaching vague meanings to it. ‘Freedom from’ and ‘freedom within’ India are
not two different words. Kanhaiya has
become cleverer after graduating from Tihar.
He now speaks of Kapil Sibbal’s language. He has different versions of the same
concept. On the occasion of ‘cultural
evening’ at JNU (1) he was present, participated, but did not speak (2) He was
not present and did not know what had happened (3) he was present and was asking
for identity cards from those who came to the campus without permission…and so
on.
JNU
is in the severe grip of caste, creed and regional politics ranging from Hindi
heartland to Kashmir and North East of India. The campus is changing colours on
daily basis. It has become a training
ground for Netas. It has been converted
into a Hyde Park – speakers’ paradise - or Local Jantar Mantar – an agitation
corner. After 9th February, 2016, almost
every day one or the other leader visits the campus sympathetically and advises
the students. The flow is unrestricted
and the list is inexhaustible. From RAGA
to THAROOR and KARAT to KALKI, all have visited the campus creating political
and ideological confusion. They all
speak in their own fashion and style,
providing nothing but an evening of entertainment and relaxation after a
great ordeal faced by the students. It
is a strange phenomenon that authorities on campus do not have any check over
such events. Freedom is dead: Long live
JNU freedom!
JNU has fallen from grace due to Kanhaiya, Umar Khalid, Anirban
Bhattacharya and a host of other students who brought down its name from being
nationally reputed institution to the level of a university defamed by
anti-national sloganeering and activities.
The authorities have not taken a final action on the report of the high
level committee submitted to the Vice Chancellor where at least 21 students
were reported to be involved and five of them to be rustication on grave
charges. If the authorities really wish
to bring back the honour and prestige of the university, they must take
the following steps at the earliest:
The university campus must be brought under CCTV
surveillance and an official photographer be kept with video camera to make
movies of all occasions as a proof.
At least one and a half section of Central Reserve Force should be stationed just outside the campus gate to be called immediately in event of any untoward happening.
Outsiders should not be allowed without written permission of the Vice Chancellor.
Whatever lecture to any gathering (other than class room) is delivered by any leader, insider or outsider, must be tape recorded officially.
A proper check of activities should be maintained by internal security of the places like Dhabas or Canteens.
A record of evening-attendance of all hostellers must be regularly maintained.
Rigorous training of research be given to scholars and
they should be asked to finish M. Phil. or Ph.D. within stipulated time with
term papers regularly completed, and extension be allowed only in ‘rare cases’
by the Vice Chancellor on the assessment of the earlier work done. Scholarship should not be treated as a luxury
allowance to be spent on pastime activities.
It should be stopped the moment the time is up, and a letter ‘not fit
for research’ (NFFR) at JNU be issued to the student. However, he may be allowed to pursue the work
elsewhere.
A quarterly report of the campus and academic activities must be sent to the Ministry of education.
The monetarily grant of the university must be assessed in ratio to the research work genuinely done.
PG, Undergraduate and professional classes should, step by step, be discontinued so as to give JNU a status of only a higher body of research activities. This institution was originally established as a centre for higher research like that of the Institute of Higher Learning and research, Shimla. JNU’s post- graduate and other classes should be shifted to DU or Technical University, located at Delhi. One still fails to understand the purpose of School of Social Sciences, at JNU. It can easily be transferred to other centres at Delhi. JNU has become a monolith body - an amazon - already crushing down under its own weight, unable to be administered or governed properly. It needs to be slimed, surgically operated and modelled like a porcelain beauty, carved and grafted, skilfully with a sense of an artist, a poet or a man of letters. With crudity of Kanhaiya and separatism of Khalid, one should not expect any makeover of the already tarnished image of JNU. Will the Vice Chancellor rise to the occasion and accept the challenge boldly to bring back the honour and prestige of JNU? It has fallen on the thorns of politics: it bleeds.
