Novelist and columnist Makarand Paranjape was one of the earliest visible faces of right of the centre ideological track in the predominantly Left-leaning Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Publicly heckled by then JNU Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar for resisting a strike call by the students, he became the face of the right’s opposition to Marxist dogma.
In a recent article (published in this newspaper) Paranjape startled many by mentioning, “I experienced a campus suffocated by ideological conformity; the Left’s intolerance was stifling. But Right rigidity and anti-intellectualism are scarcely better. Earlier, I had watched scholars and students shunned for daring to question Marxist dogma or exploring nationalist perspectives. Inquiry gave way to loyalty tests. Now, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme.”
One has never been a student of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) but has watched it for four decades now. First as a student of Delhi University, fed on the stories of the Utopian ideas of the campus down south, and then as a journalist. First as university reporter and then in various other capacities. One always felt there was a marked difference between the two eminent centres of education, set-up almost 50 years apart.
First and foremost was the topography. Delhi University had an open campus with prominent bus routes of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) criss-crossing through it. It was rightly called an open campus, whereas JNU came up in an enclosure. This open and closed approach to ideological debates also reflected on these two campuses. Whereas the Delhi University believed in the true spirit of the phrase - Let the 100 flowers bloom, and not the way Mao Zedong meant, JNU shunned those who questioned the Marxist dogma.
Unfortunately in the past few years Delhi University too has shown a particular streak, as Paranjape would put it, ‘inquiry giving way to loyalty tests.’ This has specially become dominant during the tenure of the present Vice Chancellor. This is sad, as Yogesh Singh’s contribution in ending adhocism on the campus is unparalleled. However, somehow his administration has failed to convey the message that academic merit mattered over Hinduvta manners.
The burning example of this being a Principal of a college pasting cow-dung on the wall of the classrooms to illustrate her initiative at promoting Indian Knowledge System. Lakshmibai College’s principal Pratyush Vatsala applied cow dung to a classroom’s walls, citing traditional cooling methods. The principal personally applied cow dung to the walls of a classroom in Block C of the college, which is known for getting extremely hot during summers.
Expectedly this stirred a hornet’s nest, with the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) president pasting cow dung on the wall of principal’s office and asking her to take out the air conditioner as dung paste must have cooled the environment. Architects and environmental experts have spoken on the incident saying that while cow dung has natural cooling properties, it doesn’t offer much when used on concrete buildings. They have further said that it also lacks the strength or durability to be a replacement for modern cooling systems like fans, coolers or air conditioners.
The grapevine has it that the principal’s 10 years innings in the office is coming to an end and it’s her belief that ‘manners would matter over merit’ to get her the extension. Thankfully the Vice Chancellor this time around has shown the courage to criticise an idiosyncrasy perpetuated in the name of ancient knowledge.
Singh is reported to have told a newspaper, “I cannot comment on its scientific aspect because I’m not an expert. I think that if the experiment was important, she could have first experimented at her home or office before carrying it out in the classroom.”
Having shown the courage to speak out, the Vice Chancellor should now ensure that this person is not given an extension in the office lest she furthers her experiments with cow dung.
Such acts belittle the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to resurrect ancient Indian knowledge for public good. The mandarins at Shastri Bhawan, the seat of Ministry of Education, and downward have to ensure against such selfish moves which have the potential of reducing eclectic policy to a ‘gobar (cow dung) class’ document.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice