Politics and Education: The Values at Stake

Are we really interested in educating our children? Recent happenings at almost every premier educational institution in the country unfortunately depict a different picture. From the most prestigious educational institution of the country, the Jawaharlal Nehru (JNU), to a university in the Northeast region, the Manipur University, every institution is being dogged by one problem or the other. There is no gainsaying in that the ongoing troubles are hampering academics. But for reasons best known to the authorities, they themselves are sitting idle and virtually taking no steps to end the crisis.

A careful study of the problems may definitely point out that too much of political intervention has created problems for the institutions. Take the case of the JNU: Trouble started in the institution over a matter of holding a meeting where a few people raised objectionable slogans against the country. There is no denying that those who are not willing to abide by the law of the country should not be spared. All of them should be punished severely. But what is strange that even after almost three years of that incident having happened, the police could not arrest the offenders. Rather they picked a couple of JNU students and levelled charges of sedation against them. The matter did not end there. To make it worse, an advocate attacked the students when the students were produced in the court. As a result, what was a simply case of students’ mischief became a battle between patriots and non-patriots overnight. Many believe that it was purposely done by the saffron camp to gain control over JNU. But the fact remains that since then the JNU has not witnessed a single peaceful day.

The same was the case of the University of Hyderabad (HoU). A research scholar, Rohit Vemula, had an altercation with a few ABVP supporters. It was a minor incident between two groups of students. But it turned into a major issue when a Union minister wrote to the vice chancellor of the university virtually ordering him to expel Vemula. It put Vemula under much stress that he committed suicide. Naturally, the incident created furore across the country.

Strangely no action was taken against the Union minister and till now he has not revealed what provoked him to write such a letter to the vice chancellor. Almost similar happenings have kept Manipur University crippled for over two months now. The reason behind the trouble is that the students had pointed out irregularities in the functioning of the institution. The charges stated by the students were also supported by a section of the faculty too. The dispute may have been solved easily by removing the vice chancellor as he had lost the trust of the students. But it did not happen. Even after constituting an enquiry committee to prove the charges, the vice chancellor was not asked to go. It fuelled the students’ anger, which resulted in the closure of the university.

All such happenings are indications enough that we are not taking proper care of our future generation. Questions should be raised about why the future of our boys and girls should be compromised for silly reasons? There is nothing wrong in students taking interest in politics. But if politics hamper the academics and the future of the students, we should be aware about the price we shall have to pay in the coming days.