PREAMBLE AND PERSONAL
THOUGHTS
Recents
events have brought students and universities {well, one particular university
at least} to the forefront of the public discourse and media attention,
alongwith all its sad and regrettable consequents; this has given rise to yet
another impassioned debate in Social Media, Media as well as normal homes - with both the Pro BJP and the anti BJP
lobbies again rising to the occasion, as it were. FB posts, Whatsapp updates in
support of the BJP, or questioning it are the order of the day once again,
after a short breather...
Next,
the Government : I am a middle roader. I criticize where criticism is
warranted, praise where praise is due. I have begun to note a clear
polarisation of camps into pro and anti BJP, and that makes me highly
uncomfortable; both camps claiming the other is wrong, and both sides being
demonstrably and completely wrong in at least some of their contentions. Having
been questioned by close friends and family on this, I intend to keep my peace.
The way forward cannot be arguments with the people you love. Some of my
readers have stated I am dodging the issue...
What
you call dodging is in reality steering clear of issues where no clear evidence
is available for me to take a defined position; that is why I have avoided the
specific issue of Mr Kanhaiyya, and have transposed it into the larger College
issue. I do not have access to information that enables me to take a stand, and
taking a position based on opinionated Media peices is not me. Neither is such
a position fair, nor is it desirable.
THE
EPISODE
On
what evidence are we saying Kanhaiyya is guilty? Conversely, on what evidence
are we saying he is innocent? I have seen nothing that confirms either way. If
he is guilty, frankly, as a proud Indian, I stand solidly with the pro-BJP camp
on this. No one can be allowed to shout
anti-India slogans, and that is my stated position on this : note the the clear
and big "if"
Conversely,
if he is innocent, {as well as the others}, then he should be exonerated. Then
the public will be justified in asking the Government for answers on the
episode - not before. I can raise many questions - droves of them - on either
side of the coin, none of which has satisfactory answers. Thus, if I am to
state an opinion basis available data that I have run across, it would be
erroneous. If he is innocent, far more
good would be done by first approaching in a calm manner, laying the complete
facts before the public...
It
would be really tragic if he turns out to be innocent; that I readily grant.
Then, the questions will be asked. The question is how can I as an individual
help in such a scenario, given I dont know him, or anything about him? Answer :
keeping my peace, hoping in and trusting the Judiciary, and God. Time will
tell. It would be a capital mistake to fan emotions by taking any stance in the
absence of direction and information. That way lies a path none of us want to
take...
THE
LARGER QUESTION OF OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
HISTORY
: LETS US MOVE ON
I
draw your attention to Mrs Irani's speech, specifically the third part on
youtube. Watch it carefully - not for her intonations, and skills - but for the
facts she states. She raises several interesting - deeply interesting - points.
I would rather you read it than listen; I prefer reading speeches minus the
emotion that distorts understanding. Try and answer those points: Mahishasur,
Dalit, Aryan, Aurangzeb, Shivaji and others; all making reference to History.
That is one. Then look at the books she shows used in our classrooms, or were
used at any rate. That is two.
Moving
on - there are two sides : or rather three. History, Common Sense, and Politics. Regarding History
and its related matters, it would be best for me, as well as others, to
maintain silence, at least on matters with modern relevance, as these have many
parameters than need negotiation, and is thus beyond the scope or
recommendation of a blog without a proper detailed study. {Look at my history articles to get an idea of what a study entails; and
such dicey matters require far more solid research before any attempt at
penning an opinion can be made}
PATRIOTISM
AND EDUCATION
Much
has been said about nationalism and patriotism; you regard Universities as
places of Patriotism? The people who run away from India, change citizenship
come from our universities, dont they? What are we doing wrong in our education
system? Are we creating Indians, or are we creating people who place self above
nation, who run away, people for whom
professional achievement is above national purpose?
The
ones who choose self above nation, are ALL highly educated. How many IITians
have joined the Army, pray tell? {Just an example}. So yes, the ones who run
away DO come from Universities, and . the damage from these has never been
calculated; if it were done, I for one would not be surprised if the number beats
hollow any benefits accrued, and then some. But let us leave this line of
thought here, lest we digress from the topic at hand.
Sure,
the Universities produce patriots as well; I could name them at length, for
years and years, the list is so long. But few of these are patriots because of
what they learnt in college. Statement of simple fact. Do we teach
nationalism, patriotism, tales of sacrifice and courage in our Colleges,
outside of History Graduation? We dont. QED.
Why
do you attend college? To study, get an education - or to indulge in
sloganeering? I too have been to college, and never did anything of the sort. Why
are politics allowed within the colleges is not the point; what the hell are
students doing is the point. I dont buy the nonsense of student activism; students
are meant to study, play and get skilled for the nation – not indulge in
politics, in my humble opinion
It
is for this reason I have a total lack of connect with any students who indulge
in this nonsense on any side of the debate. Sorry. Our parents dont send us to
college, sacrificing sweat, blood and toil for us to scream slogans against
real or imagined injustices. Not done. Period; Try doing politics in your offices,
and see how long you survive! Open Challenge!
Was
there over-reaction? Maybe. Were they guilty? No idea; on balance - unlikely,
but am no expert. Did they deserve the public thrashing? Obviously, no. That
does NOT absolve them in my mind in soiling the halloed place of learning we
should rightly be calling a Gurukul, a place where we should be on our knees in
front of The Goddess Saraswati {for Sanaatanis} ... and giving our thanks for
giving us this opportunity that was not given to more than 70% other Indians!
My
views may not be shared by you; fine by me. But to me a place of learning isnt
a bloody political battlefield, but a place next only to a Temple, a place of
dedication and worship no less than a Temple. As a matter of fact, to quote my
friend and senior Amitabh Sinha, Vishal,
if you're a Sanatani - as you claim you are - you know that a temple is
anywhere where the Sanatani performs his karm pooja. So when you say the
University is 'next only to a temple' I'm afraid you make a mistake. A
University IS a temple for it is here where the teacher and the taught both
offer their karm pooja. Is this the way to behave in a temple? Othermay
have their views, but this doesn’t fit in mine. Go ahead, Call me an idealist...
{For
the record : Me and Amit Sir have our
differences of opinion, and the above quote is part of a much longer argument
or discussion, with all its varied mutual disagreements}
We
scream blue murder just on the question of flying the beloved Tricolor above
our universities! The thankless people who go away, after feasting on scarce
tax-payers money, scarce seats : where are they from? The UNIVERSITIES. What
value and moral education is imparted? Lessons on patriotism, and the
sacrifices people have done so that these students can study? This isnt taught
- and that is fine. So, by corollary, how
can politics be acceptable? First introduce value education, nation
concepts as a part of the curricula, and THEN think of politics.
Sure
politics has a place in every feature in life; but not active politics. Therein
lies the difference. At best, places of learning can be places where opinions
are formed, to be expressed later in more mature fora; but wasting the time of
your Guru, your teachers, the nation, your parents is not done. Can you hold
such enclaves in the workplace? Why not? Then how is something not allowed in
the office be allowed in the Temple of Education? We cant have double
standards!
Would
the Army allow such sloganeering? Why not? Would Infosys? Brittannia? Nestle?
Hero? Parle? TCS? TISCO? Tata Steel? Godrej? Bajaj? Reliance Group? Cello? What's good for the goose should be good for
the gander. As it isnt allowed, obviously there is some very practical reason
for it: call it what you will. What are we doing in places of education
indulging in something that 95+% of the time will have zero positive career
impetus, and will in fact, as has proven to be the case, become a major career
hindrance?
I
can only indulge in a fervent and innocent hope that this incident is a
one-off, does not represent the trend in our colleges and Universities, that
95%+ of our educational institutions are actually free from political interference
in a major way at least insofar as performance of the core function of
imparting knowledge to students is concerned... it may be an idealist hope,
sound far-fetched... but then, optimists and realists have never changed the
world...
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