What is wrong with an Indian university offering a course in counter terrorism and seeking to equip its students with in-depth understanding of the challenges that the country has to face as a result of terror and of the measures needed to combat it?
In fact, this is the central issue confronting all democracies in the world, and there are any number of examples of how this is very complex when the authorities seek to tackle this problem without losing sight of the fundamental principles enshrined in their constitutions.
That is why the recent decision of the Academic Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University to approve three new courses—Counter Terrorism, Asymmetric Conflicts and Strategies for Cooperation among Major Powers; India’s Emerging World View in the 21st Century; and Significance of Science and Technology in International Relations—for the final year of the five-year dual degree programme in the school of engineering is of much significance. After their four-year B.Tech Course, these students enrol for a one-year MS programme in subjects related to humanities, social sciences, languages, international relations, management, science and engineering.
Yet, the counter terrorism course is under attack from the usual suspects—left-leaning intellectuals—who just do not want JNU to emerge as the hub of innovation in higher education and offer new courses to meet the development needs of Naya Bharat.
The JNU decision is in tune with the National Education Policy, which has laid much-needed emphasis on multidisciplinary and holistic education. Students in different courses must have an opportunity to choose from an a la carte menu of subjects while retaining their core interest.
These three are just a few of many imaginative courses introduced by JNU in recent years while breaking down the age-old barriers between the humanities and sciences. This approach has given students a wide range of options so that there is value addition to their degrees.
Despite the controversy that is being whipped up in some quarters about the counter terrorism course, this is something that needs to be taken up by many other universities in the country because of the unique position of India in the comity of nations. As the world’s largest democracy and as a nation that is proud of its diversity, India has a special responsibility to ensure that democracy and diversity flourish in this country. This can happen only if young citizens are trained to identify and counter ideologies that seek to harm the country’s democratic traditions.
Explaining the importance of this course, Dr Jagadesh Kumar, vice chancellor of JNU, has said that given the challenges emanating from terrorism to national security, and the emerging situation in India’s neighbourhood, it is imperative that such an academic institution takes the lead to build a good set of counter terrorism specialists.
The purpose of the course is to develop in-depth knowledge of various global and regional terrorist networks as part of the course. The vice chancellor is clear that the rise of fundamentalism and radicalisation “through perverse ideologies” in the neighbourhood is a matter of great concern and calls for effective counter strategies.
Further, countering terrorism is not just the job of security agencies. Given the fact that terrorist networks across the world are using technology for their deadly pursuits and to attract fresh recruits, there is a need for specialised courses that enable students with a strong technology background to understand the politics and sociology of terror and acquire other skills like intelligence gathering.
The country’s left-leaning intellectuals, who have viewed JNU as their adda for many decades and ensured its intellectual stagnation, have been consistently targeting Dr Kumar, ever since his appointment in 2016. Their objections to the counter terrorism course is no surprise because of the Left’s dalliance with radical Islam.
However, Dr Kumar has weathered every challenge and ensured that none of this will hamper his dynamism and commitment to lead the university away from the morass it has been in, towards a modern, relevant and holistic academic environment. Many of these initiatives ensure an interdisciplinary approach. For example, the B.Tech students can opt for an MS in Korean or Japanese studies in the fifth year. The university is also offering courses that combine computer science and sociology and Ayurveda and Biology.
Also planned is a special centre on disaster management that offers courses to students from engineering, medicine and other related streams. Among its future plans are a School of Medicine that integrates modern medicine and ancient Indian systems of medicine and a state-of-the-art research centre to study rare diseases in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
As can be seen, there is a major expansion in the academic programmes available in JNU and it is in line with the new thinking in higher education the world over. As a result, there is so much in the university’s new academic menu for other institutions of higher education in the country to pick up and follow, and this certainly includes counter terrorism. So it is time to emulate JNU!
A Surya Prakash, Former Chairman, Prasar Bharati and Scholar, Democracy Studies (suryamedia@gmail.com)