Dissent on its deathbed

The recent ruckus at Ramjas College should act as a wake-up call for its students and teachers. It should tell them that it is time to stand up and face the music.

For decades, Delhi University (DU) had been maintaining a stoic silence even as the world outside the campus continued to burn. However, little did they know and realise that one day that fire is going to engulf them and, by that time, it will be too late to douse it.

There is no doubt that Delhi University has nurtured some of the world’s best minds. But when it comes to activism, it has always lagged behind Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). And to become truly relevant today, it is imperative to call a spade a spade. That’s where DU fell short.

From the demolition of Babri Masjid to the Godhra riots to the reservation row, one has never heard of DU taking a united stance. On the other hand, JNU took to the streets during/after each of these historical events and confronted the government head-on. In its pursuit of academic excellence, DU has failed to see that the administration is destroying the culture of debate and discourse that the university had once been known for.

I graduated from the Indraprastha College for Women. I still remember how my professors literally jumped to their feet the moment some classmates and I said that we intend to visit Pakistan as part of an educational trip. It was the year 2000-01 and the country was just out of the Kargil War.

Memories of the conflict were still fresh in the public psyche. The government of the day was formed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I do not recall any untoward incident that deterred us (students or professors) from embarking on the journey.

We were probably the first Indian women’s college to have visited Pakistan, with 18 students from the department of history. We were led by two women professors, who took us to Lahore, Islamabad, Taxila and Peshawar, criss-crossing the length and breadth of Pakistan. And we did it the way it is supposed to be done. It was an early-December morning when we left for Wagah in the Attari Express from Amritsar. We stayed at the Youth Hostel in Lahore, and right in front of the gate a ‘jihadi’ camp was openly recruiting cadets.

So the antagonism was on both sides but it never spilled over into the campuses.

A week after our return to the campus, we held a lecture series, ‘Breaking the Stereotypes’, where we tried to change the popular perception about Pakistan, something that is still being instilled in our minds by political leaders who love to perpetuate war for their own political gains. Even at that time there were contrarian views, there were arguments and there were questions on why we chose Pakistan, but there was no violence anywhere.

“That time was different even though it was a BJP government. Today it is an RSS-run (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) government and they act with complete impunity. They are trying to control universities. Their agenda is to destroy universities, but they will not be successful and they will continue to face resistance. Today the violence in the campus is State-sponsored, which was not there earlier,” Nivedita Menon, professor at JNU told BL ink .

Today the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — a student group affiliated to the RSS — has gained a strong foothold in the DU campus.

But who is to be blamed for that? Why has the ABVP become so empowered that a simple literary event like ‘Cultures of Protest’ had to be cancelled in the wake of violent protests? It is time DU gave a fitting reply by organising more such events and more such student-exchange programmes where students get sensitised about Pakistan and their culture.

“Going to Pakistan on a student-exchange programme is a dream now. Today there is huge intolerance for such things and this kind of open support from the government to encourage violence is new. If the campuses are going to be unsafe places, where will debate take place?” quipped Delhi University Professor Nandini Sundar.

There is a huge influx of students from other universities and colleges who are wreaking havoc inside these premium universities, for petty political gains.

During a recent protest by ABVP at the North Campus, I asked a young protester, a student from Kumaon University his reason for participation, and his reply was: “JNU ko bandh hona parega , DU ko bandh hona parega . Nahin toh desh khatrein me aa jayega (JNU has to shut down, DU has to shut down, else the country will be in danger).”

Unfortunately, the young man did not even know the full form of JNU and had no clue about the courses it offers.

“Intolerance is gaining ground today. Students have got caught in the geopolitics. There is no counter-force today. Universities are places to have contrarian views. Without contrarian views how can debate take place? Minds get sharper with debates. And there has to be a diversity of views. Meddling with students will be like putting the spanner in your own development vision. If you don’t encourage critically sharp minds the economy will suffer a greater loss than the universities,” says Debraj Mookerjee, associate professor at Ramjas College.

It is time DU bounces back fiercely and reclaims the ethos it stands for, which is free speech and freedom of expression.

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