FEBRUARY 17, 2016

By Naresh Minocha, Our Consulting Editor

India pays through its nose for Nehru legacy

"IS it necessary to have a University of this type? Indeed, if you want a memorial, there are memorials and memorials and is not the Kashmir problem a memorial that will remain in history. When six hundred States integrated (into) one State, when Jawaharlal Nehru interfered, (Kashmir) remained unintegrated and this country is paying through the nose for it and getting a bad name all over the world for that one little thing, for that one obstinacy and obsession of his."

That was Dahyabhai V. Patel, articulating concern voiced by certain Members of Parliament (MPs) on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Bill, 1964 in Parliament on 1 st December 1965.

Both Dadhyabhai and his father Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man who united princely States into eternal nation India, would certainly be saddened in the Heaven. This is because the left alliance of JNU students and teachers has transformed the university into an incubator for anarchists, separatists and criminals.

Like Dadhyabhai, another MP, Mariadas Ruthnaswamy, would have been flabbergasted, if he were alive and had read about crimes ranging from plagiarism to pornography that have taken place at JNU over the years.

The university holds the dubious honour for topping all universities in realm of sexual harassments. As many as 25 such cases happened at JNU during 2014-15, according to University Grants Commission's data forming part of Government's reply to Lok Sabha question dated 14 th December 2015.

Mr. Ruthnaswamy, a noted scholar-cum-statesman, who served as VC of Annamalai University in the 1940s, aptly voiced his concern over the JNU Bill. On 1st September 1965, he stated in Parliament: "I rise to oppose the formation of a university of the type with which we are familiar, more so because the honoured and honourable name of Jawaharlal Nehru is associated with it. From the wording of the clauses of the Bill, we find that this new University is going to be the usual kind of Indian university with whose recent developments and with whose recent products we are all too sadly familiar."

JNU is today like any other university, all of which have had their own share of unrest and violence. It is no match for University of Sussex, which was viewed as role model for JNU by the then Education Minister, M.C. Chagla in 1964.

The latest anti-India event in JNU forms part of the unsavory developments that occurred at this central university over the decades. The past developments need to be recalled to expose the lies dished out by vested interests to rationalize brazen attack on India's sovereignty and integrity on the campus.

This analysis would finally focus on long overdue sweeping reforms required to bring back both students and teachers on the path of holistic, rational and scientific education.

Turn now to the BIG lie repeatedly stated by certain Left-oriented JNU teachers and leading opposition leaders at the arrest of JNU President, who was present in the thick of anti-India sloganeering at JNU campus. An emeritus professor claimed in a TV debate that she had not seen such police action at JNU in her JNU teaching career spanning over 40 years.

Mr. Sitaram Yechury has described solitary arrest of a student as emergency-like situation. And Rahul Gandhi has accused Modi Government of "bullying" JNU and "suppressing" students' voice.

Mr. Gandhi should know that when he was literally Rahul Baba in the early eighties, her grandmother's regime had ordered police crackdown on JNU students. The crackdown was manifold bigger than hyper-cautious and small action taken by Modi Government.

As many as 370 students including 50 females were arrested by police on 11th May 1983 following violence and arson. They shamelessly threw stones at the houses of JNU faculty and destroyed their properties.

The violence followed police's efforts to rescue vice-chancellor and two other top functionaries who were put under ‘house arrest' by students for 50 hours. And what was the provocation for students' agitation? The students were hell-bent on demanding revocation of authorities' decision to transfer a student from one hostel to another on disciplinary grounds!

Mr. Rahul would be pleased to know that the two FIRs against the students registered under sections 147/149/341/342/506/186/353/332/447/148 of Indian Penal Code were withdrawn on 21st September 1985 when his dad was the Prime Minister.

This black chapter in the history of JNU was preceded by two other students agitations – one in November/December 1980 to demand revocation of the expulsion orders against a student who misbehaved with the then Acting VC; and the other in February, 1983 when students demanded immediate suspension of a teacher who allegedly victimized a student in the evaluation of his course.

Ironically, there was hardly any agitation when a student, Kanakraj from Tamil Nadu, committed suicide in early eighties due to raw deal he got at JNU.

Another notable instance of students' agitation at JNU happened in November 1977 when they did not allow VC and two other university officials to enter the campus.

Rahuls and Sitarams of Indian Politics should also know that over 160 MPs had signed petition urging President of India to order probe into affairs of JNU in April 1981.

Without getting a social sciences degree from JNU, any layman can today do research to unearth many more instances of wrongdoings both by students and teachers at JNU. More cases, however, are not being recollected here as the objective is not to declare JNU as a national disgrace or as hotbed of all sorts of crimes.

The objective here is to highlight the harm, the vested interests do the country time and again by proving right Lord Thomas B. Macaulay, the founder of modern education in India. He had once stated: "Half knowledge is worse than ignorance." Such half-knowledge products of Macaulay's education system are present in all age groups and in all professions. They have become a threat to national unity and development. They hijack or pollute the national agenda/issues by distorting facts. And they show their pathological aversion to rational and holistic debate on major problems bedeviling the nation.

This brings us to the need for stemming the rot in the educational institutions. All political parties must first reach a consensus to stop university students from becoming political activists. Each political party should thus wind up its respective youth/university wing to let students become life-long learners and responsible citizens.

There is no harm in students forming associations to articulate their interests for improvement in educational, sports and cultural eco-system in the universities.

The associations should, however, not operate as trade unions, a trend that was flagged by University Grants Commission way back in sixties.

The parties and teachers must distinguish between teaching political science and transforming students as pawns in the hands of politicians and teachers who have their own political biases.

This issue was succinctly elucidated by V. Gopalsamy in August 1981 in Parliament while participating in a debate on students' unrest in the universities.

This Tamil Leader, nationally known as Vaiko, stated: "What is the reason for this student unrest in our country, in the universities? The reason can be traced to the dogmas injected by teachers, by faculty members, by Professors and particularly teacher politicians. Teacher politician is a great problem in all universities. Teachers may take part in politics outside. They can be members of political parties, we do not mind. But they should not inject through the syllabus their ideologies into the minds of students to further their own ends."

Like Mr. Vaiko, many other academics, parliamentarians and other entities have pitched for surgical cleansing of education system. It is here pertinent to quote late Dr. Rafiq Zakaria participating in discussion on UGC's annual report in Rajya Sabha in December 1978, Dr. Zakaria observed: "we have brought the whole system of education-and much more the higher education-to such a mess-and for that the politicians are as much responsible as the academicians-that there seems to be no ray of hope."

Way Back in October 1966, a committee headed by Dr. T. Sen, had recommended that "Steps should be taken to prevent political parties from interfering; in the internal affairs of the universities and colleges if a convention of non-interference cannot be developed."

If Government had paid heed to such advice as well as made public reports of different JNU affairs probe committees, the country would have been spared of agony of seeing JNU as cradle for lawlessness.

It is never too late to reform JNU and the entire higher education system to improve human capital as part of Skill India campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi can take the initiative on this count by first breaking his Government's umbilical cord with RSS to pave the way for national consensus on de-colourization of education.

Anti-India events at JNU and Jadavpur University should serve as the last wake-up call for all stakeholders to create an eco-system for teaching good human values. Students must be taught the Constitution-envisaged national duties instead of encouraging them to create mass hysteria about rights, rights and rights.

Let Leftist JNU teachers and students atone for their sins by chanting India first; duties first at the same spot where anti-national slogans were chanted.