Moa Jamir
“You are not leftist, just anti national elements. Admit your game is up, you are simply secessionist. All of you are caught here,” pronounced Arnab Goswami with an air of superiority to the panel of students from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) at the Times Now ‘Newshour Debate’ on February 10, damning and tagging us in one stroke as: anti-nationalist, secessionist, shallow, semi-literate et cetera.
The mood of the self-appointed conscious keeper of the Nation was incensed by actions of a group of individuals who organised a cultural evening on 9 February 2016, entitled ‘A Country without a Post Office’ the protesting the “judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat” (see the picture).
Since then, the controversy erupted into a full-fledged attack on everything that is JNU. Earlier, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) had condemned the event, both the “divisive slogans” as well as the way the entire incident is being used to malign JNU students. Police swooped down on the campus and arrested JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, charging him with sedition. So far eight other students have been debarred from academic activities by JNU pending a disciplinary enquiry into the event.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh and HRD Minister Smriti Irani asserted that strict action will be taken against the demonstrators and ‘anti-national’ elements will not be tolerated.
Media was buzzing with notes on nationalism and ideas of “ideal students.” Social media had a field day; rightwing sympathizers launched their latest mission to disgrace JNU and #ShutDownJNU has been trending on top.
“Terrorist and anti-nationalist”
At the Newshour Debate, when the students (including a former JNUSU President and two others) rebutted the charges stating that their “principle stand” is against all forms of death penalty, Arnab thundered, “Forget your principle stand (on death penalty)” accusing them of providing “Wishy-wishy arguments.” They were not allowed to complete a sentence through the show.
He accused them of wasting tax payer’s money. A similar sentiment implied by many commentators across the media. Obviously, beck-and-call, not conscientious students, are the ideal milieu in their academic curriculum. When the students cited growing instances of intolerance for dissent in academic institutions, taking recent Rohit Vemula episode in Hyderabad Central University as a case point, Arnab accused them of generalising the issue and making analogous reasoning.
And then, he asked, “Would any American university allow a cultural event that celebrates the life of Osama Bin Laden and call him a hero?”
Obviously he had forgotten to read about recurring civic unrest in college campuses throughout the 1960s over African-American civil rights, women's liberation, and anti-Vietnam War movements. Democratic protest and dissent are part of campus culture.
“Bunch of people consisting of out of work lawyer (Katju et al), champagne sipping and cocktail glitterati (Shobhaa De et al?), a five star has-been author (Arundhati Roy) with a single book agenda” and group of anti-national elements cannot dictate the nation, he implied.
Toeing the line, an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) member on February 11 updated his status, “#JNU4Nationalism march in JNU Campus today and it will continue till JNU become a nationalist institution...”
JNU legacy
As a young graduate, when I joined JNU in 2005, it was unlike any other university starting with the admission process, where instead of ragging, you are assisted by dedicated volunteers of different organisations on campus. You soon discover that there are huge gaps between various theories and praxis that we learn through our educational system. Our worldview opens up to different possibilities and is considerably enhanced. In essence, it teaches: That it is all right to question, debate and offer alternatives to grand narratives; that no single theory is applicable to all human circumstances.
It enabled someone like me, from one of the remotest corners of India, to study here. Students from diverse backgrounds and socio-economic realities converge and mingle here adding vibrancy one would sorely miss in other universities.
It made us cynical, conscientious, proactive, making our minds inquisitive. No thought-control here! Each entity, no matter their ideological proclivities, is given ample space to voice their concerns. It is the only place where you can be what you want to be.
Those who do not have opportunity to study at the University would be certainly envious of its democratic and liberal atmosphere. Some are affronted by the questioning of existing narratives and the hierarchal status quo. The ABVP’s failure at JNU has made it raise the cudgel of ‘anti-nationalism’ to exact its revenge. Their brand of majoritarian politics based on belligerent jingoistic fervour and religious dogmatism does not hold water here. In an election year in many important states, it is sowing time for the right-wing ABVP. Closet supporters are coming out in throngs now that they know that “power that be” are in their side.
The University is often accused of engendering ‘rebellious’ and radical interpretation of different issues and questioning of the mainstream narrative. But the very essence of the University is to enable such possibilities. A university that does not allow dissent is a prison, as argued by the student in the Newshour.
'If ABC...and 123 is the only fact of life we were to learn through education, we might as well have stopped our schooling at nursery level.'
Defending democratic ethos
Questioning the anti-nationalist tag, a JNU student’s Facebook status read, “As far as nationalism goes (and I certainly want it to end for good) that is the best form of responsibility a citizen can undertake. It has never been a question of the death of a soldier versus that of a farmer or a student. It is a question of policies and agendas of state machinery that while being responsible for killing them all, makes martyrs of some and invisibilizes others to further its interests.”
Another former student updated, “A culture of healthy debates and engagement with dissent is any day a better usage of 'tax payer’s money' and goes in the long term interest of the republic in a real sense than suppression of debates and silencing of dissents in the name of nationalism...”
Others talked about its academic achievement that produces best academicians, journalists, activists, civil servants, policy makers and many other playing key roles in the progress of the nation.
Defending the democratic ethos of JNU, a large crowd of students along with the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teacher Association who hit the road on February 12 condemning the arrest of JNUSU president and the steps to malign the institution and declared, “No you were wrong, you try to bury us but you didn't know we were seeds.....” For all the arm-chair bandwagon bent on tagging JNU into varied disgraceful jargon without even setting foot or experiencing an iota of life in this magnificent institution, stay inside the campus for one week. ABVP members must be most willing to accommodate you.
I assure you, by the end of your stay, you would change your position. Charges of wasting tax payer’s money are a joke fired as a last desperate salvo when all other attempt fails. The JNU legacy justifies it more than anything else. Away from the maddening crowd, life goes on, as reflected aptly by a Facebook update by a JNU researcher as the media goes ballistic over the incident: I’ll tell you what’s happening in JNU @ this very night: “Someone is waiting for the geyser water to heat up, Someone is on the phone, walking in the corridor, engaging in a heated argument, Someone is sharing cigarette puff with someone, someone is in Ganga Dhaba sipping lemon tea, Someone is in library, slogging for UPSC, someone is being kissed for the first time, Someone is bitching about his/her professor, someone is complaining about the hostel food, Someone is trying her roommate’s clothes in her absence, someone is fighting insomnia, Someone right wing guy is thinking about the left wing girl whom he has secret king size crush on, Someone knows that differences are healthy when some third person doesn’t interfere and blow it out of proportion.” -Hence, everything is fine, all is well with and in JNU Long Live JNU.
