Long years ago, Prof Romila Thapar had written a book titled Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Recent events tempt us to reflect on the decline of academic freedom and the fall of Ashoka University.
At the outset the writer of these lines must admit that the few times he was invited to deliver guest lectures at Ashoka, he thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with exuberant young students and brilliant faculty. The place seemed bubbling with intellectual ferment.
Proclaiming itself basically a liberal arts institution that aimed at inculcating critical thinking among its students, it promised to provide a world-class environment and teaching comparable to the best universities in the world.
In the euphoria generated by it was easy to overlook that it was an elite institution run for the children of the elite. Its Young India Fellowship Programme was a peerless finishing school. Other private universities paled in comparison with 'Ashoka the Great' largely due to its stellar faculty.
The founders never tired of repeating that Ashoka was set up as an act of philanthropy by self-made millionaires to pay back their debts to society. The salaries paid to the faculty were astronomical by Indian standards and, to make the business model viable, the fees charged were just a little less than the foreign universities.
Trouble had been brewing for some time. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, one of the most distinguished public intellectuals in the country and a scholar of international renown, had to relinquish charge as Vice Chancellor a couple of years ago but none had expected his recent unceremonious departure following a forced resignation.
Founder-trustees of Ashoka University today stand exposed as spineless hypocritical businessmen who, to borrow Ramachandra Guha’s words, preferred to crawl as soon as they could sense the gusts of changing wind.
They are now left with a tattered fig leaf to cover their collective shame. What troubles us is that while the Ashoka Affair has attracted international attention, more dangerous developments have hardly called ripples.
The AICTE has proposed that to pursue a course in engineering, the candidates should no longer be obliged to have studied PCM at the higher secondary level. If required, bridge courses could remedy gaps in knowledge. This brings to mind another policy innovation that was mooted a short while back.
AYUSH, a ministry in the Central Government, thought in its wisdom that medical practitioners qualified in the Ayurvedic system should be permitted to undertake surgical procedure. Again, if required, a short bridge course could fill the gaps in their training! This had raised the hackles of the Medical Council of India but it’s hard to imagine that these wise doctors can and will resist the government’s dictates when it comes to the crunch.
As if these were not enough, a researcher at AIIMS proudly announced that she had won a grant from the Department of Science and Technology to research (and demonstrate) the beneficial effects of Gayatri Mantra in improving the condition of (admittedly mild) cases of COVID-19. What is laughable is that the trial, if it can be dignified with this term, is confined to a sample size of 20!
Even Patanjali had chosen a larger sample (200) to test its product Coronil. The desire among the chauvinist devotees of traditional knowledge to validate their superstitions and mumbo jumbo through modern scientific methods is understandable but so far all they have succeeded in doing is to show total ignorance of scientific method.
Let’s not forget that not long ago the government had slipped ignominiously when it stepped on a pile of cow dung when the UGC unveiled a scheme to hold nationwide examinations in Cow Science. This encouraged fanatical gau rakshaks and deshbhakts to claim miraculous qualities that Indian cows have. These ranged from stores of polarising solar energy in the humps to nullifying dangerous nuclear radiation.
These ignoramuses don’t realise that their antics only devalue our genuine scientific heritage. Sadly, barring a few, none of the eminent scientists have denounced such efforts. Perhaps they too, like the founder-trustees of Ashoka University, are worried about the price (individual or institutional) they may have to pay.
It appears that there is a systematic campaign underway to stifle research, dumb down education - to rear a crop of sycophants who gleefully and sheepishly deify the supreme leader. The latest to open his mouth and remove all doubts about his innate idiocy was the chief minister of Uttarakhand.
His comments on women wearing tattered jeans were disgusting, and exposed a feudal patriarchal mindset. Then came his announcement regarding Kumbh Snan without rok tok. Religion trumps science easily and every time for him and his kind.
He has, most unfortunately for the state and the nation, been promoted much above the level of his competence. All this raises questions beyond freedom of expression and independence of academic institutions.
This is not the time to lament but to rage and protest. No one should have the right to impose their blind faith and superstitious beliefs on others. Not even after validation by pseudo-science patronised by the rulers of the day.
(The writer is a former professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University can be contacted at pushpeshpant@gmail.com)